


Hero

by obisgirl



Series: Jacen and Tahiri New Triology [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: New Jedi Order Series - Various Authors
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24345148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obisgirl/pseuds/obisgirl
Summary: Jacen comes back from the dead and starts a romantic relationship with Tahiri Veila, against the backdrop of the beginning of the end of the Vong.
Relationships: Jacen Solo & Jaina Solo, Jacen Solo/Tahiri Veila, Jagged Fel & Jaina Solo, Jagged Fel/Jaina Solo
Series: Jacen and Tahiri New Triology [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757626
Comments: 60
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyOfTheSith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOfTheSith/gifts).



> A/N: I wrote and posted this back in the early 2000's. If it doesn't follow canon of what actually happened in the New Jedi Order, well, that's because I couldn't keep up reading all the novels and quit.
> 
> Orphan story is https://archiveofourown.org/works/479314/chapters/832676

Tahiri Veila held her legs to her chest as she sat alone in her bed. Months earlier, she, Jaina, Jacen and Anakin were on a recon mission, to destroy the voxyn queen and one by one, a member of their strike team was lost...as well as Anakin. Outside, she had finished her grieving but inside, it felt like a part of her was dead as well. Anakin was her other half; she knew that.

If he had lived, probably in time, she and Anakin could have been more than just boyfriend and girlfriend...but it wasn't likely now. She sobbed again, holding her legs tighter against her chest, crying.

_ There’s no need to cry anymore, my love _ , a voice whispered, as Tahiri’s head suddenly shot up, searching the room. As far as she knew, she told everyone to leave her alone…even Jaina, who knew she needed to be alone. Tahiri sniffed again, biting her lip. She knew she was alone, but somehow, whoever was there, felt so familiar…

_ Anakin _ , she questioned, but knew it wasn’t true. Faintly, she could see someone but she wasn’t sure. Tahiri rubbed her eyes and when her eyes cleared, she saw his figure, kneeling in front of her, scars around his arms and cheek.

“Jacen, I don’t understand…what are you…?” 

Before she could say anything else, he leaned up and kissed her. It felt strange at first…this was her boyfriend’s brother she was kissing, but somehow, it felt familiar. She kissed deeper, her tears subsiding, when she finally realized…She backed away, looking at him, as he stared back at her. 

Tahiri tilted her head, squinting her eyes, “Anakin?”

Jacen smiled roguishly, “Don’t ask me how, Tahiri…I could never be able to explain and you would never understand…” He bent his head down, kissing her hands, ‘but I’m back, baby and it’s gonna be alright.’

Half of her was happy for Anakin back but in her brother’s body…it was just weird. She’d known Jacen for years, she’d never thought of him like this…well, once. Theoretically, she always imagined her first time would ‘actually’ be with Anakin; with him physically lying beside her. In a way he was, but not really.

“I’m not sure, Anakin, Jacen – I don’t even know what I’m supposed to call you?” she panicked. 

Jacen shrugged, reaching up and caressing her cheek. She smiled, kissing his hands, staring into his brown eyes. She and Anakin had always been bonded through the Force and since she had known him for so long, she should have been able to tell without using the Force…

Tahiri traced the curves of Jacen’s face, closing her eyes, imagining it was Anakin’s. She felt Jacen kiss her neck, his hand lightly touching her sides. She sniffed again, as she allowed her hands to fall from Jacen’s face to his midsection.

The Jedi looked down, loosening his tunic and once it was loose and stripped away, Tahiri opened her eyes. She swept her blond hair to her left shoulder, before leaning down and kissing his midsection.

Jacen gasped, opening his eyes as well and when he opened the upper part of Tahiri’s tunic. And before him was a beautiful goddess with bright green eyes. Judging from her slight hesitation to continue, Jacen knew she still wasn’t comfortable or sure about the situation. Unsure if Anakin’s spirit was really inside of his body.

Slowly, Jacen bought up his hand, caressing her cheek again. Their lips touched briefly, as if a taste, then the kiss deepened again. His hand moved from her cheek to her hair, supporting her neck as the two fell back onto the bed…

Tahiri stared at the ceiling as Jacen slept beside her. The young blonde needed a re-cap of the situation. Jacen was alive, obviously, because there he was, sleeping next to her or was it Anakin? When he told her that Anakin’s spirit was inside of him, she wanted to believe him but it seemed almost impossible or likely for that matter. When he died, his body didn’t disappear which was strange since it seemed like Anakin had already found peace with death.

Tahiri bit her lip, looking at Jacen’s face. What was going to happen when he woke up? Would he remember the night they shared? Even if he didn’t, it would still be very awkward between them. There was no use lying to herself and saying nothing happened, and that she felt nothing. But what she felt was mixed up with every other emotion she was feeling. Jacen turned, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Oooh!” she cried, biting her lip again and mumbling, “You’ve really done it this time, Tahiri.” She rolled her eyes, trying to remove Jacen’s arm from her waist, hopeful not to wake him. Unfortunately, he did. He moved, catching her arm as she made the movement and opened his eyes. Tahiri smiled, “Um, hello – Anakin?”

He frowned, “No, Jacen. He left…he couldn't stay for long."

She smiled, unconsciously pulling the blanket over herself, “Really? He left…so, it’s just you?” 

She was hoping it was Anakin beside her, his spirit still with her but knowing it was Jacen, made her feel nervous and awkward.

Jacen smirked as he noticed her blush, “He left while you were sleeping; not before while – well, you know what happened.”

“Of course.” She mumbled, looking down at her hands, “So, you don’t remember what happened?” 

When he didn’t answer right away, she went on, “Well, it doesn’t matter…I think I have enough memory for the both of us.”

Jacen gazed up at her, looking again into her eyes. Only this time when Tahiri looked back, she didn’t see Anakin’s eyes, but Jacen’s want. As he brought up his hand to her cheek again, Tahiri flinched away but remembered it was Jacen, not Anakin lying next to her.

He whispered, “Anakin didn’t erase my memory of what happened, Tahiri.” Before saying anything else, he slid his thumb down her lips.

She kissed it, reveling in his warmth. This was crazy. This was her boyfriend’s brother but his touch affected her…it didn’t make sense. “Why?” she questioned, her voice hoarse and ragged. 

“Why didn’t he erase your memory?”

Jacen shrugged, “I don’t know, but you know what?” Tahiri felt the same passion he felt, leaning closer towards him. He smiled, leaning close to her, whispering, “I don’t care.”

Tahiri grabbed his waist and kissing him back and then pulled away abruptly. _ No, this is wrong _ ! _ It shouldn’t be like this _ , she cried, it couldn’t be like this. Jacen placed his chin on her shoulder. He knew it was wrong, too, but there was no way he could go back to seeing her as a kid. Not even a kid, she was a beautiful young woman. She grabbed her robe, putting it on as she stood up from the bed, pacing about the room. Her eyes met his briefly, but she quickly averted them, staring at the floor.

“Tahiri…” Jacen started, as she suddenly looked back at him, “What are we going to do then? Deny this?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what we should do. Deny this because nothing happened.” Tahiri snapped, glaring at him. She huffed again, calming down somewhat, “It’s just better that way for the both of us.” She turned, looking at him again, “I think you should go. Your parents deserve to know that you’re alright and have found your way home.”

Jacen then smirked, remembering his current state, “Um Tahiri, would you mind turning around?” She only rolled her eyes, turning her back to him as he slid out of bed, grabbing his things.

~~

Tahiri felt like kicking herself as she dressed, fixing her hair. She’d just wished Anakin were alive, she wouldn’t feel this way about his brother. What else was she supposed to do? She and Jacen shared something special…Special. A small smile curled her lips, remembering what happened but suddenly frowned again. This was impossible…even if they did get together, they would have to hide it from everyone they loved. No, it would still be impossible.

Impossible.

She tied her hair into a braid as Jacen appeared, clothed in the traditional robe and Jedi cloak. Tahiri tilted her head, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He smiled cock-eyed, straightening his robes, running a hand through his hair, “Well, I guess I should be going.”

“Oh wait, Jacen!” Tahiri cried, bolting up from her chair and running to his side, kissing his cheek. He looked at her incredulously, thinking maybe she had changed her mind about their pact. “No, I haven’t…that was just for luck. Um, as far as I know, they’re on Borealis. You know where that is?”

Jacen shrugged, smiling, “Not really, but I’ll figure it out.” His smile widened, looking into her green eyes. They were beautiful eyes; she was beautiful but he had to resist the urge to…

Once that thought occurred to him, Jacen loosened Tahiri’s grip around his waist and stepped back, “Well, I think that’s my cue to leave.” She smiled slightly. Jacen bit his lip, staring back at her. She looked so innocent and sweet…

_ No, leave now, Solo before you get in even more trouble _ , he conscience shouted. He followed his own advice and left.

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Jacen checked his radar, his mind wandered again to Tahiri. This was the third time…third time. He really shouldn’t even be thinking about her but he couldn’t help it. And the weird thing was, he never even thought of Tahiri in this way before. She was always a ‘kid’ to him, a kid that couldn’t even stand shoes. Always walking around in her bare feet, wearing her Jedi cloak, lightsaber and loose hair tucked behind her ears…

As Jacen checked his radar, his mind wandered again to Tahiri. This was the third time…third time. He really shouldn’t even be thinking about her but he couldn’t help it. And the weird thing was, he never even thought of Tahiri in this way before. She was always a ‘kid’ to him, a kid that couldn’t even stand shoes. Always walking around in her bare feet, wearing her Jedi cloak, lightsaber and loose hair tucked behind her ears…

_ Oh no, there I go again _ , Jacen thought. Whatever this was, it certainly wasn’t a crush because by now, he knew the difference between a crush and love. When he was at the academy, he had a crush on Tenel Ka and before the full-scale Vong invasion, another crush on Danni Quee. Another blond, he thought to himself. What was with him and blondes?

He mused aloud, “The next time I have a crush on a girl, she better be a brunette!” His R2 unit beeped, answering his question and he laughed, “No, R10 that question wasn’t directed towards you. I was just thinking out loud.”

~~  _ Oh excuse me, sir.  _ ~~ The droid replied.

Jacen only huffed, flipping some switches, bringing up his nav. controls, “How far until we reach Borealis? If it’s gonna be a long ride, I want to get some sleep. You can fly her the rest of the way.”

~~  _ About two days, sir. Have a nice sleep.  _ ~~

He smiled, lowering the cockpit lights as he drifted to sleep, flying his way home…

~~

Jacen scowled, feeling something hit his x-wing and immediately bolted up, almost hitting his head. His hands scrambled over the controls, trying to get an idea what in Sith was going on. After playing around a bit, Jacen decided to forget the control, relying on his vision instead. Oh boy, he thought, looking out the side of his view port. Eight coral skippers were ready to attack.

“Oh great, just what I needed, an un-welcoming party! R10, how far are we from Borealis?” he shouted, prepping his guns.

~~  _ Not far, sir. But to make a jump now would be suicide. _ ~~ R10 cried as Jacen smirked. 

Even for an R2 Unit, R10 had Threepio’s worried personality - always thinking about the odds but right now, the odds seemed to be in the Vong’s favor, rather than his. He needed help and fast.

~~  _ Need some help, pilot?  _ ~~ A voice asked, almost startling Jacen.

He knew it couldn’t have been R10; the voice was so calm. Jacen flipped his intercom on, “Um yes, identify yourself?”

“Colonel Jagged Fel of the Spike Squadron.” He replied.

Jacen cocked an eyebrow, shrugging. Jagged Fel? That name sounded familiar…he’d never met Fel but he had heard of him before his capture. Whoever he was, it didn’t matter because right now he needed the backup. The skippers were heading to intercept, four on each side. 

“Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, Colonel,” Jacen replied.

Fel didn’t reply as he and two x-wings situated themselves on both of his sides, covering him completely and Fel’s x-wing above him. He hadn’t expected that anyone would be patrolling outside Coruscant. Jacen squinted, watching the skips. These ones were more coordinated than the ones he was used to. Whenever a skip got ready to attack, they would just attack…

Things had certainly changed when he was gone, but about how much had changed?

Two of Fel’s x-wings broke away, chasing four of the eight coral skippers as Jacen began to fire on some himself, though it was a bit sloppy. Fel nodded, ordering one of his wings to cover him as he intercepted Jacen’s fire, shooting directly at the enemy ship. They weren’t badly beaten up, but it was enough to call for a retreat.

Jacen huffed, falling back into his seat, rubbing his chin. He connected to Fel, “Thanks again, Colonel. I appreciate it.”

~~  _ No problem. Need a lift, pilot? We can escort you back to Borealis. _ ~~

“Yes, Colonel, thank you,” and silently added, “Time for me to finally come home. Home.”

~~

Jaina wasn’t sure but a moment ago it felt like Jacen… _ No that was impossible! He can’t be alive, _ she reminded herself. She breathed slowly, standing up, grabbing her lightsaber and exited the room.

She had only arrived on Borealis days earlier. Her parents, her dad especially, was very happy to see her. After their rough escape from voxyn queen, Jaina wanted to go back and rescue Jacen but Tahiri convinced her it would be suicide…and that there was no way her parents could deal with losing another child. She was right. Before leaving immediately for Borealis, she, Zekk, Lowbacca and Tenel Ka dropped Tahiri off on her home planet.

After that, it seemed like everyone was going in a different direction. They just separated, all of them, resuming their lives like nothing happened. But something did happen…Jaina had lost two brothers in one day. Jaina wanted to grieve herself, but she just couldn’t bring herself to cry. 

She was the oldest child to begin and now she was the only child. But she had to deal for a little while longer.

She shrugged, turning another corner, colliding into Wedge. 

He laughed, brushing himself off, “Going somewhere, Sticks?”

“Um yes, sir. The mess hall. I need a drink…to relax.” She mumbled.

Wedge smiled, “Jag just came in from patrol. I know he would love to see you.”

Jaina smiled thoughtfully, “Thank you, sir but I just need to be alone right now…”

He frowned, interrupting her, “I wouldn’t have mentioned it but Jacen is with him. He picked him up.” Jaina gasped, remembering the familiar feeling she had before. “It looks like he was a dog-fight with some skips, but Jag saved him.”

_ Jacen is alive! My brother is alive!  _ It seemed almost too good to be true, but she had felt his presence earlier so there was no way she could question Wedge. Wedge only smiled back, clearing his way as she ran down the opposite hallway.

~~

Jagged Fel smiled, leaning against his x-wing as he talked with Jacen. He had never met Jaina’s brothers, but he had heard about them and her parents. He had heard about the Centerpoint station, Thrackan Sal-Solo and just about everything else that had happened in the Republic. His smile became a frown when he thought of Jaina and how devastated she was after Jacen’s disappearance and Anakin’s death. “Jacen, Jaina thought you were dead. We all did, to be honest…”

“I know. I felt dead for so long, while in their captivity but the only thing that kept me going was thinking about Jaina and my parents. I’d missed them.” He whispered, his brown eyes glazed.

“And we missed you,” Jaina echoed, standing behind him.

Jag smiled, leaning off his x-wing and walked towards Jacen, patting his arm and smiled, 

“Again, welcome home Solo,”

Jaina leaned up and kissed Jag’s cheek, whispering, “And thank you, Colonel.”

He blushed, kissing her cheek in reply and then leaving the room. Jacen smirked. A lot had definitely changed while he’d been gone. The two stood in awkward silence; neither of them sure how to react. What to say to your twin, when you meet him again, after you believed he was dead, Jaina questioned herself as she stared at Jacen. After catching that thought, Jacen walked slowly towards his sister, wrapping his arms around. Jaina thankfully accepted him.

“Figured this was probably the only way to respond.” He mumbled.

She smiled back at him, “You were right…but not right to leave Anakin.”

Jacen knew this would be coming. After all, he was just following his orders but he knew Jaina saw it as a betrayal. “That’s fair. I deserve whatever anger you have against me. I’ll take it. I’ve been through a Hell of a lot worse, under the Vong.”

Her eyes narrowed, “A hell of a lot worse under the Vong? I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult.” Jaina huffed, rolling her eyes, “No, we’re not going to argue over what happened…whether it was right or wrong. You’re home, you’re alive.”

“Mom and dad around?”

“They are, but first I just want to spend time with my brother. Would that be all right?”

“Of course.” Jacen replied, slapping his arm around her shoulder as they left the bay, “But first, I want to know about Jagged Fel and how close the two of you have become while I’ve been gone…”

tbc


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tahiri huffed, murmuring, “I don’t know exactly what is happening or why, but I know, when you touch me, I want you to touch me some more.” She smiled, looking into his eyes, “I want this --- I want you.”

Tahiri kept her eyes low as she brushed her hair. She had done nothing but think of Jacen since he left and wasn’t exactly sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing? Bad, because she had just lost Anakin only months earlier. How would it look if someone knew she was already thinking about his brother. 

What bugged her even more was if Anakin knew? She knew it was a silly question to ask but it made her wander. Maybe Anakin wanted this to happen. Maybe he sent Jacen back to take care of her…but it just didn’t seem likely that Anakin would just let Jacen…

No, she had to know and she needed to know now. Tahiri put down her brush, closing her eyes, calling to Anakin. She didn’t feel him at first, but eventually she felt his familiar aura. He was standing behind her as she slowly opened her eyes, staring back at his blue reflection. He smiled cock-eyed, like Jacen, when he was unsure about something.

What was she going to say? How could she ask him? She had always been straight forward before, but she didn’t want to upset him if she was wrong.

_ I know,  _ he murmured,  _ There’s no need to feel embarrassed Tahiri. I sent him here to protect and take care of you. _

“Well, what exactly is your definition, Anakin Solo, of taking care of me? For reference?” she retorted, crossing her arms and turning to him, “I need to know. Why did you send Jacen to me? What were your intentions?”

_ ‘You mean, did I want you to fall for my brother? Yes, I did.  _ Tahiri flinched, her eyebrows narrowing as she looked at him.  _ I wanted it to happen because I knew Jacen would take care of you, for me. Keep you safe. You need to be protected, Tahiri. Now, more than ever. _

“I don’t need protection. You know I can take care of myself.” She retorted, standing up and pacing about. “But you are right about one thing, I have fallen for Jacen. When he touches me, I feel a sensation so strong…we would be perfect together and I would be happy with him but then I think of you and how much it would hurt…and I remember how happy I was with you.” She paused, whispering, “how protected I felt…and then you were gone and suddenly I wasn’t protected anymore.”

Anakin stood up and walked behind, wrapping his arms around her. _ That’s why I sent him to you, because I knew he would protect you and I want him, too. If you think it makes me jealous, it doesn’t. _

“Then you’re a liar. If I were you, I would be jealous.”

_ Probably, but believe me, this is meant to be. You will always be my first love…I will always love you but you can’t love me forever, Tahiri. You have to let me go, and let Jacen in. _

She didn’t reply; both of them standing in silence before Anakin’s spirit vanished, leaving her alone, whispering again,  _ Let me go, Tahiri. _

~~

Jacen smiled at his sister. The two of them had spent the afternoon catching up on the basics, mainly the war and combat training. When they were younger, they never had to worry about war or fighting because that job belonged to their parents. If it was Jacen’s choice, they wouldn’t talk about war but Jaina refused to talk about her relationship with Jag. He knew there was more there; there had to be. But he never pressed the issue, knowing and hoping she would come clean in time.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay at mom and dad’s?” she asked.

“I’m sure. I just need time to myself to breathe first.” 

During his time with Jaina, Jacen asked if she could somehow persuade General Antilles to give him an apartment in the flight hall. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see his parents; his wanting to be alone had more to deal with sorting out his feelings for Tahiri.

“Well, goodnight Jacen and welcome home.” She replied, snapping her fingers at the same time, “Oh mom and dad wants us to have breakfast tomorrow together as a family. Can you come?”

“Breakfast tomorrow? I was hoping I could sleep in. I guess since they went through you to persuade me, it’s pointless to decline. Dad would probably drag me down there anyway. I’ll be there.” He joked.

Jaina’s smile widened, replying, “Great. Officially, good night Jacen.” Being the only female sibling, she had always taken for granted her brothers, especially Jacen, believing he would always be there without question. Growing up, they were always together. She lost two brothers on Myrkr and today one of them was home. She smiled again, leaning up and kissing his cheek before turning and heading down the opposite hallway.

Jacen scratched his forehead, walking into his temporary home. Watching her leave, Jacen still felt she was hiding her feelings towards Jag. There was more there, more than she was even willing to admit. But he was too tired to even think.

Jacen Solo had had several homes in his life, but never a real home; a steady place to call “home.” 

The Jedi stopped, examining his surroundings. It wasn’t a big apartment. The main living room consisted of two couches and a dining table in the center. Adjacent to the table was the kitchen, which was also equally small. To the left, there was a hall that he assumed lead to the bedroom and fresher.

This was home but it still felt strange…something was missing.

That’s when his mind returned to Tahiri. His flight home, all his dreams were of her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her blonde hair and green eyes would haunt his memory forever. The one girl he was beginning to love more and more but could never have. Yes, he loved her. He wasn’t exactly sure when he decided that but how else could he describe this feeling? It had to be love, unrequited love, unjustified love…forbidden love.

Forbidden love, he decided, which meant he could never have her. There, it’s settled; no more, he thought.

Jacen briefly raked his hand through his hair, dropping his hand to his face. It was very rough. If he didn’t shave it, no one would recognize him. Walking to the fresher, he laughed, “I wonder how Tahiri managed. This thing makes me look like a Bantha!” 

He hadn’t intended to slip back into his memory, thinking about Tahiri. It was an accident but I hadn't really thought about it.

After he was done, Jacen left the fresher returning to the living room/dining room. As he ran the towel over his shaven face one more time, wiping off the remainder of gel, he felt her presence. Jacen gulped, putting the towel down and he reached out, using the Force searching for her.

But before he could continue his searching, she ordered the lights on. Her head was tucked against her chest; her feet bear as usual. Her blonde locks fell across her shoulders, barely touching her skin.

Jacen fidgeted, what was he supposed to say? It didn’t matter because whatever verbal communication between them was replaced by silence and Tahiri was the first to break it. “I saw Anakin. I talked to him. Well, his ghost form anyway. He was all blue and transparent – it was very weird.” She started, gazing at him, “I asked him ‘why?’ Why, instead of resurrecting himself, he sent his big brother? And you know what he said?”

He walked closer towards her, brushing his fingers against hers. She caught on, entwining her hand with his. “What did he say?” Jacen asked, staring at her.

She smiled, “He said he knew and that he wanted this to happen. I was angry with him to be honest. I couldn’t believe he would just dismiss me and pass me on to someone else and to his older brother even! It didn’t make sense. He didn’t make sense but after thinking about it, it made sense and I believed him. He wants this to happen; I want this to happen. I want it so much it hurts.”

Tahiri huffed, murmuring, “I don’t know exactly what is happening or why, but I know, when you touch me, I want you to touch me some more.” She smiled, looking into his eyes, “I want this --- I want you.”

Jacen was speechless as Tahiri’s lips touched his, her body leaning into his embrace. And she fit so perfectly there. Jacen hardened the kiss, guiding her once again to the bedroom…

~~

Tahiri smiled, an arm around the man she loved. Somehow, this feeling, the sensation she spoke of with Anakin had developed into love. She was scared to admit it was love. Before Jacen, Anakin was the only one she felt she could really love. She knew she loved Anakin but this was different and that’s when it hit her. It – this feeling – was different because they were different and loved differently. They were independent of each other.

“Thinking?” Jacen asked, interrupting her reverie.

She rested her head on his chest, “Yes. I was just realizing how different the two of you were as brothers.” When he didn’t reply, she continued, “Anakin was always independent and looking for your approval. He never said anything but I knew. It’s all he ever really wanted. He looked up to you, ya know.”

“I was his big brother,” he whispered.

“No, you were more. You were so much more than that, Jacen. Yes, you were his big brother but he idolized you.”

Jacen laughed, “I always sort of idolized him. He was a whiz with mechanics. He would know instantly what was wrong or if there was a problem and fix it.”

She smiled, “You envied him because he was a mechanic? Because he liked breaking things apart and putting them back together?”

“Not just that. He and dad always had this connection because of his talent. Their personalities complimented each other.”

“Just like how we compliment each other?” she questioned, biting her lip, “I know we haven’t exactly talked about this, but how are we going to deal with this?”

He shrugged, frowning, “I thought we took care of it the first time?”

“We did but things are different now. Now, instead of denying this, we’re acknowledging it. So now, we have to discuss how we’re going to hide it from our friends and family.”

Jacen huffed, staring at the wall, “If we have to hide this, it won’t be easy.”

He turned, facing her as she gave him an incredulous look, “Whoever said it wasn’t going to be easy? No, it won’t be easy...for either of us.”

  
  


Jacen kissed her forehead, and then bent his head to kiss her, “It will be forbidden…”

“Risky.”

“Dangerous.” He whispered, snuggling closer to her as she giggled.

As giggles subsided, she whispered back, “We’ll make it work, won’t we?”

“We’d have to, ‘cause I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you.”

“Or, I you.” Tahiri replied, leaning up and kissing Jacen, falling back into his embrace...

tbc


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia smiled as she watched Han and his daughter, sit and eat breakfast. Of course, today was no ordinary day because her oldest son was home. Being his twin, Jaina was the first to feel his presence, well his arrival on the base. According to Wedge, Jacen and Jagged Fel were in a dogfight against eight coral skippers. Leia just blessed the Force, thankful her boy was home.

Jacen awakened suddenly, catching a glimpse of the chrono. He only had a half an hour to take a shower and get ready for breakfast with his parents and his sister. He really didn’t want to leave but he told Jaina he would be there. Tahiri frowned, sensing his worry and backed away. “Go. If you need to go, go. I don’t mind.”

He smiled, “You sure? You know I wouldn’t if I didn’t need to – I promise I’ll be right back.” Tahiri smiled okay, kissing his nose before he jumped out of bed, rushing to the fresher and turning on the water. Tahiri only laughed, rolling her eyes, going back to sleep.

~~

Leia smiled as she watched Han and his daughter, sit and eat breakfast. Of course, today was no ordinary day because her oldest son was home. Being his twin, Jaina was the first to feel his presence, well his arrival on the base. According to Wedge, Jacen and Jagged Fel were in a dogfight against eight coral skippers. Leia just blessed the Force, thankful her boy was home.

She felt Anakin die, but she never felt Jacen die which convinced her he was still alive, but in pain. 

Jaina, on the other hand, felt the opposite. She felt him die. Whatever happened, it didn’t matter because Jacen was home. Han smiled cock-eyed, glancing at the chrono for the seventh time over Jaina’s shoulder. Jaina smiled, taking a drink, “Don’t worry, dad. He’ll be here. He said it probably wouldn’t matter if he refused to come, because you’d probably would have dragged him here, anyway. He’ll be here.”

“I honestly don’t know what’s taking that boy so long…”

“Han, he’s a boy. Most likely, he’s probably standing in front of his fresher, fixing his hair.”

Jaina smirked, joking, “Or Force forbid, taking a shower.”

“Or, right behind you, sis,” Jacen replied, leaning against the door with a smirk on his face. Leia froze, staring at her son. He had been gone only for a matter of months but had grown into a handsome young man, almost resembling Han in some respect.

Picking up on his mom’s emotional feeling, he leaned off the wall, encompassing her in a big hug. Leia was too overjoyed and too shocked to cry. Just holding her boy was enough shock. Letting go, he smiled, kissing her cheek. “Jacen, I ---.”

He whispered, “I know, mom. I know.”

“And what about your old man? Not gonna give him a hug?” Han interjected, “I’ve missed you too, Jacen.”

Jacen smiled, grabbing his father, “I know, dad. I know.” Leia sighed. She had never seen Jacen and Han hug each other; she supposed it was a ‘guy thing’. The reason why she never saw it happen during the years.

“Ahem!” Jaina cried, as Jacen turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “I know you already met me earlier, but can I have a hug, too?” He only laughed, grabbing Jaina, picking her off her feet. 

After a while, Jaina cleared her throat again, letting him know he could let her down.

“Well, now that’s over – let’s eat!” Leia cried, showing off the table full of food. “I prepared your favorite eggs, sausage and dessert. Threepio’s actually not a bad cook, despite his lack of taste buds. I insisted on helping him some, but he refused.”

Jacen’s smile lessoned, looking at the table. With all this food, strangely, he didn’t even feel very hungry. His mind really wasn’t even thinking about food, but a beautiful blonde girl with bare feet. But he didn’t want to offend his mom by refusing, especially after their reunion.

“Jace, is something wrong?” Jaina asked, as he settled down next to her.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just don’t have a very big appetite.” He mused, and then added, laughing, 

“I’ve been thin for so long – I almost don’t want to eat.”

Leia’s eyebrow’s furrowed, sitting next to Han, “That’s all right, sweetheart. Just eat as much as you can. You don’t have to eat everything at once.”

“Your mom’s right, kid.” Han added, patting her shoulder.

~~

A little while later, Jacen leaned back in his chair, staring at the disarray of plates, glasses, and bowls. It hadn’t taken him long to dig right in, even after he had said he wasn’t that hungry. Now he was finished, he almost hoped he wasn’t because he knew his parents would want to talk and ask him questions about his imprisonment. And that was not an experience he wanted to relive.

He smiled, “Well, after all that food – I’m tired. I don’t think I could do anything else…”

“You just got up, silly. What? Don’t tell me after coming in yesterday, you stayed up all night?” Jaina questioned, receiving a glance from her mom and a glare from her dad. But she ignored them.

“I did stay up a little but I had my rest.” He said, remembering Tahiri. “I sure could use more, though.”

Leia shrugged, smiling, “Then rest. We can talk later.”

Jacen frowned. His mother was allowing him to leave early to rest, when he knew she wanted to 

talk to him. What was this? Reverse psychology? “Um mom, if you want to talk I don’t mind.”

“No, you rest. You need it.”

“No, really. If you want me to stay…I can clean the dishes if you want…” he started.

But she only rested her hand on his, smiling, “Don’t argue with me, Jacen. Rest. If you don’t, I’ll use a Jedi Mind Trick on you.”

He laughed, patting her hand, “Wouldn’t want that to happen. I’ll rest and I’ll see you guys later.”

Jacen smiled, standing up, Jaina and Han following his lead. He winked at Jaina, grabbed his jacket and left. It was only then Jaina knew something was wrong. He was more than tired; he was uncomfortable, sitting with them.

“…don’t worry, honey. He’ll talk to us soon. We just have to give him time.” Han soothed Leia, as she hid her face from him, tears staining her cheeks. Jaina frowned, watching her. Han kissed Leia’s cheek, exchanging looks with his daughter. Jaina nodded, leaving the table quietly and exited the apartment.

Thankfully, Jacen hadn’t gone far. Jaina tilted her up, whistling. He turned, facing her. He really did want to get back to Tahiri as soon as possible, but it looked like she would have to wait…for a while.

Jaina jogged over, catching her brother, asking, “Hey, what just happened in there?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know what you mean. Mom was fine.”

“No, she isn’t, Jacen. She’s crying now, upset because you didn’t want to talk to her. She’s been without a son for months, but she always believed you were alive even when I told her I didn’t think so.” Jaina retorted.

“I’m sorry…I thought…I’ve just had a lot of things on my mind. That’s all.” He mumbled, “I’ll come by and talk to her, later. Promise.”

Jaina said, “That’s not enough, Jacen. Not for me, though it maybe enough for her. What is wrong with you? You’re different, withdrawn. You always want to be alone.”

Now, Jacen’s temper was heating up. He really needed to get back to Tahiri, but no, his own sister was grilling him for information. She was asking questions, he wasn’t even prepared to answer yet. “It’s none of your business, Jaina. Just leave me alone.” His twin immediately closed her mouth as he pushed past her, walking down the hallway.

Jaina sighed, what had happened to her brother while in captivity to make him like this?

~~

Jacen felt like banging his head against his apartment door. He just yelled at his sister and he’d never yelled at Jaina before. What was happening to him? He wasn’t like this when he left. One thing was for sure, his imprisonment under the Vong had definitely affected him but the question was how and how much? This angry, this rage –whatever he was feeling, they weren’t mood swings.

Jacen stumbled to the fresher but stopped, falling against the wall when he heard someone arrive at his door. He couldn’t believe Jaina didn’t listen to him. “No Jacen, don’t lose your cool now. It would be very ‘un-Jedi’ like; on the edge of the Darkside and we all know, we wouldn’t want that to happen,” he joked, walking to the door and pressing his thumb to the unit.

“Yes?”

_ ~~ <Jacen, it’s Danni. Can I come in? >~ _

Danni Quee.  _ Perfect _ , he thought, unlocking the door. Her blonde hair was bound up, but not very neatly. Golden strands were everywhere. If it had been two years earlier, he might have found her very attractive and beautiful, but now she just looked like a geek.

“Well, I guess the first thing for me to say is --- welcome back and I’m glad you’re not dead.”

Jacen laughed, “I’m glad too. Death is terribly overrated. Besides stopping by to say that, why are you here? Don’t you have to decipher some Vong code or something?”

Dann frowned, but not because of his attitude, “I wanted to talk to you. No, actually I need to talk to you.”

“Jacen, these past months everyone believed you were dead – I’d been doing a lot of soul searching. I know we’d already talked about this on Duro but I want to revisit that conversation.”

“My feelings for you were mixed up with everything I was feeling at the time. I wasn’t sure about anything, but now I am. I – you mean so much to me. I wouldn’t say it was love but I have strong feelings for you.”

Jacen rested his head on her hand, “Beautiful speech. Just beautiful. But Danni, there’s just one problem – you’re a bit late, realizing this epiphany of yours.”

Danni frowned, a reign of confusion washing over her, “Late? I don’t understand.”

Jacen leaned closer, still smiling, “Well, let me put in simple, non-scientific terms for you --- You’re a geek.”

“Jacen? I ---,” she cried.

“No, that’s not what I meant. What I meant to say is – I’ve found someone else and she’s a Goddess compared to you.” He smiled.

Tears filled Danni’s eyes, her mind racing. What had happened? This wasn’t the Jacen she remembered. The Jacen she knew was sweet and her friend. “How can you say this to me? After I poured my heart out to you and told you how I felt?”

He only patted her head, messing up her hair, “I’m just wondering…do you even have a mirror in your apartment, ‘cause child you look like Sith!”

Danni rose to her feet, running out of the apartment as Jacen simply waved goodbye, blowing her a kiss.

tbc


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Not so fast, Jacen. Sit!” Luke shouted and the boy immediately sat down on the couch without an argument. “I don’t know what your problem is, but this attitude needs to stop. It stops now. You made your mother cry, and your hurt two of your dearest friends…”

“Ahem!”

Jacen turned, that stupid smile still on his face as he confronted Tahiri, “Hey baby!” Her eyes narrowed, hands on her waist as she paced about. “I’m back. Told you I wouldn’t be long.” He added.

“Don’t ‘hey, baby’ me! Jacen. Why did you say those things to Danni?!” she cried.

He only shrugged, “Were you listening to what she was saying? She was trying to steal me away from you?”

“I know what she was saying, but you had no right to say those things to her. It wasn’t right. I don’t know what your problem is, but this attitude, you better lose it – otherwise you’ll lose me.”

Jacen’s smile ceased. He wasn’t exactly sure where his ‘attitude’ was coming from but he didn’t want to lose Tahiri. He’d just found her. Jacen moved towards her, still kneeling, wrapping his arms around her legs, crying, “I don’t want to lose you, baby. I --- I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m scared. I yelled at Jaina this morning – I’d never yelled at her before and Danni, she didn’t deserve….”

“You’re right, Danni didn’t deserve that.” She whispered, stroking his hair as her eyes were swelling with tears. “I don’t know what’s happening to you either but it scares me, too. The Vong did something to you, didn’t they? They hurt you…maybe not the same way they hurt me.” Tahiri bent her head down, kissing his head, sniffing, “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out; we will.”

“The first step would be for you to check into a clinic or something. Check for any anomalies in your blood. If the Vong did something to you to make you this way, your blood will tell us.” Tahiri reasoned.

“And if it’s not in my blood? What then?”

She only shrugged, kissing his head again, “Then, I’ll help you work through this. However I can help, I will. You’re not alone here; you’ll never be alone.”

~~

“Testing shouldn’t take long,” Tionne replied, as she pulled out the syringe from Jacen’s arm. He winced, glancing at Tahiri as she gave him a hopeful smile. Tionne glanced at the both of them. She knew it wasn’t her business to ask but she had a feeling things had changed between them. “You two don’t have to be here when I run these tests. If you want to leave, I’ll call you when they’re ready.”

“Thanks, Tionne,” Jacen mumbled. She smiled at him briefly, turning on her heel and entering 

her office. “So, what do we do?”

Tahiri shrugged, “We can’t stick around here. You heard Tionne --- maybe, you could stop by Danni and Jaina’s and apologize for your bad attitude?”

Jacen huffed, “Will you come with me?”

“Nope, you’re on your own there. But I’ll be waiting for you back at the apartment.” She replied, kissing his cheek.

A smile pursed Jacen’s lips, wrapping his arm around Tahiri, “I’ll try not keep you waiting then…”

“No, Jacen. I can wait. You need to fix this first,” she reasoned, kissing again, “Don’t come back until they’re both happy, especially Jaina.”

“Deal.” Jacen murmured, glancing around, “C’mon. We better get out of here before Tionne comes back.” Tahiri took his hand.

Unknown to both, Tionne was listening from behind her door.

~~

Jacen tapped his fingers against his sister’s door as he waited for her to answer. He’d dropped off Tahiri at his apartment, and then swung by his sister’s. And he’d been there for about two standard hours now. He pressed him thumb to the COM again, “C’mon Jaina. I need to talk to you. I want to apologize.”

“I’m sorry I blew up at your before. I’m not sure what my problem is - you know I’m normally not like that. It’s just that I’ve been preoccupied lately, but this attitude - it’s more than that. I think the Vong did something to me…”

Minutes after he said that, Jaina finally opened her door, inviting him inside. It was a standard officer’s quarters, much like his own except for some variations. “Ahem, so you think the Vong did something to you?” Jaina questioned, crossing her arms.

“It’s hypothetical. I just got back from the lab for some blood work - Tionne will call me when she has the results.”

“And if there isn’t anything wrong?”

“The Vong confined me - it could just be trauma and stress, stress that leads to anger…” Jacen hinted.

“I get it. It’s just since you’ve come back, I've been worrying about you a lot. Your request for an apartment of your own, refusing to stay with mom and dad - what else am I supposed to think? I’m your big sister. It’s my job to worry about you.” Jaina reasoned.

Jacen shrugged, “I know…I know. It probably made me look bad that I didn’t want to stay with our parents…”

“No, it’s more than that…like you’re hiding something.” Jaina whispered, and then added, smiling, “Who is she?”

Jacen’s eyes bolted, but he recovered, laughing to himself, “She? First, I’m a bad guy and now you think I’m having an affair?”

Jaina raised her eyebrow, “She must really be special for you to lie to everyone - who is she?”

He laughed again, raising his head and turning away, “This is crazy! I’m not seeing anyone.”

“It’s someone we both know, then?”

“What did I just say? I’m not seeing anyone,” Jacen repeated but she ignored him, as she leaned back, thinking.

Her eyes bolted up, her mouth making an ‘O’ shape, “Oh, it’s Tahiri!”

Jacen hesitated, mumbling, “Yes,” and childishly fidgeting, “I know this is weird. Anakin loved her so much, but he gave me his blessing…”

"So, how long have the two of you been seeing each other?" Jaina interrupted.

Jacen only frowned, "Wait a minute...what about Anakin?"

"What about him? Oh, you want me to be scolding you or something for acting drastically and like an idiot? Jacen, if Anakin gave Tahiri his blessing, I have nothing to say against this."

"Nothing?" he repeated.

Jaina only smiled, "Nope and I understand why the two of you would get together -- I think. No one else would understand what it was like to be imprisoned by the Vong."

"It's more than that. It doesn't even have anything to do with what happened. This connection is way beyond the Vong - we love each other."

"Well, that wasn't something I wasn't ready to hear. Um Jacen, I think you better go." Jaina muttered, shoving her brother towards the door.

"That's it?" he frowned, not even paying attention to the fact that he was already standing outside of her apartment.

She shrugged, "What else am I supposed to say? I already told you - if Anakin gave you his blessing, I have nothing else to say. And I don't."

"I know, but ---," Jacen cried as Jaina closed her door in his face. Jaina growled, hitting her head against the door. That was definitely not what she was expecting.

Jag suddenly poked his head into the room, almost shocking Jaina, "Everything clear? Can I come out, now?"

Jaina smiled, "Everything's clear."

His grin widened, as he held Jaina in his arms, kissing her cheek, "Jacen and Tahiri, huh? I would have never believed it..."

"You can't tell anyone about this. No one can know about Jacen and Tahiri.”

Colonel Fel knelt down, kissing her forehead, "Secret is safe with me. Both our secrets."

~~

Hero (CH11)

By Obi’s Girl

Luke tried to calm Danni down as Mara handed him a glass of water. He didn’t understand why she was crying and running in the hall. He tried to get her to talk, but her words were garbled, muffled by cries. Whatever had happened had something to do with Jacen. The Jedi Master wasn’t sure what, but he had somewhat of an idea.

“I just don’t know why he was being so harsh – it wasn’t like him.” Danni murmured, “I understand Jacen’s had it tough, but he had no right to make fun of my feelings…”

Mara glanced at Luke as she knelt down, facing her, “Look Danni, Jacen’s going through a rough time now…a lot of stress, I suppose.”

“I told him I had feelings for him, and he spat on me, saying I was a geek!” she cried.

Luke shrugged, but Mara only glared, clenching her teeth. This was definitely not Jacen. He would never say anything hurtful like that, unless it was Kyp or something but never Danni. Something was wrong. 

Mara took Luke aside. “I don’t understand,” she whispered, “Jaina called me earlier and told me the same thing. He yelled at her, Luke, but she called back recently and said they made up.”

“Something is definitely wrong. Jacen even had a crush on Danni, earlier on in the war – it just doesn’t seem right he would crush her feelings like this,” Luke reasoned, “Unless, he’s found someone else.”

Mara glanced at Danni again, “Maybe. I don’t know. He had breakfast with Han and Leia this morning. He was fine, then.”

“ _ Was _ ,” Luke corrected, “Leia was crying after he left. But I don’t think he yelled at her. He’s been very withdrawn since he returned. He has an apartment in the flight hall.”

“Nothing makes sense. I hate it when that happens…it only means something “Big” will happen later,” Mara growled.

Before Luke could say anything, Ben started crying. Mara kissed his cheek, heading to the nursery as he returned to Danni. She was calmer now, though her eyes were baggier than before because of crying. “Danni, from what Mara told me, you weren’t the first of Jacen’s wrath. He lashed out at Jaina too but she forgave him.”

“You want me to forgive him?”

He shrugged, “I’m not telling you to do anything…just…” Another interruption. Luke rolled his eyes, answering the door. The man, he needed to see. “Jacen, perfect timing. We were just talking about you, nephew.”

“I asked around and found out Danni was here. Can I talk to her?” Jacen asked.

“Of course, you can,” Danni answered, crossing her arms, “You want to apologize for your hormones? I’m waiting.”

Jacen huffed, “I honestly don’t know what came over me, Danni. I’m sorry. I know you may find this lame, but I think my bad attitude is because of the Vong. I think they did something to me…I can’t exactly explain it.”

“Then save it. You’re right. It is a lame excuse, but it doesn’t fix my feelings. I poured my heart out to you and you… It doesn’t matter because now I see you’ve found someone else. I just hope, whoever it is, realizes sooner than later what a jerk you are!”

“You’re right, I have found someone and I have been keeping it a secret...from everybody. It’s just complicated, but I really am sorry for hurting you. It wasn’t me.” Jacen cried.

Danni only laughed, averting her eyes, “It sure looked like you, or are gonna say it was a clone or something else? I’ve had enough of this.” Danni turned to Luke, smiling, “Thank you, Master Skywalker for everything but I think I need to make an exit now.”

Luke smiled as Danni left. 

Jacen glanced at his Uncle, “I guess I’ll go now, too…”

“Not so fast, Jacen. Sit!” Luke shouted and the boy immediately sat down on the couch without an argument. “I don’t know what your problem is, but this attitude needs to stop. It stops now. You made your mother cry, and your hurt two of your dearest friends…”

“But I fixed things with Jaina…”

“Yes, you did but you still came very close to losing her, too.” He paused, pushing back his anger, “Jacen, I can’t even begin to understand what you went through, dealing with the Vong but there are people here who are willing to help. People who want to help you, if you let them.”

“I know…I know...” he mumbled, looking down.

“How’s everything here?” Mara asked, startling her husband.

After recovering Luke smiled at her, “We’re fine. Anything wrong with Ben?”

“No, he just had a nightmare. Nothing serious. A nightmare and a bad stomach.” Mara grumbled, gesturing to her clothes, “I wouldn’t even touch me, tonight. Not until I have…” she gestured to her dirty top, “cleaned up,” She turned, disappearing down the hallway.

“And Jacen…” Luke nodded, but was interrupted again, this time by Tionne’s voice.

< _ Jacen, I have the test results. It might be too late now, but if you want to know, just come down to the lab. _ >

Jacen breathed, looking at his Uncle before answering, “No, I’ll be down there as soon as I can. I just need to pick someone up first.”

< _ All right. _ >

tbc


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Is this a set-up for the bad news, Tionne? Showing me past records?" Jacen asked, the question not meant to be sarcastic.

Tahiri smiled hopefully at Jacen as they started to enter the lab, she stopped him briefly for a kiss though, "Sorry. I just wanted to kiss you for luck."

Jacen bent his head down; kissing her forehead, winking, "For luck," Tahiri whispered back the same words as he turned, entering the lab.

They didn't see Tionne anywhere, but Jaina and Jag were there. They were talking quietly to each other and then suddenly stopped as Jaina caught sight of her brother. Tahiri immediately let go of his hand distancing herself from Jacen. On their way, Jacen told her Jaina knew but even so, it still made her uncomfortable. Jaina was her friend too and now that she knew.... well, Tahiri wasn't exactly sure what she thought of her now.

"Um, I thought maybe you needed family here with you when Tionne gave you the results." Jaina muttered, "Colonel Fel offered to come on my behalf."

Jacen smiled as Tionne exited her office, carrying two data pads and the blood sample 

she took. She smiled at them, setting the test tube aside. She grabbed the first data pad, handing it to Jacen, "This a physical I took of you a year before you joined the temple. As you can see, everything is normal...May I remind you, DNA doesn't change over time, Jacen."

"Is this a set-up for the bad news, Tionne? Showing me past records?" Jacen asked, the question not meant to be sarcastic.

"Yes and no," Tionne said, grabbing the other data pad, "I said that because nothing has changed about you. The blood sample I took of you hours ago was the same as it was then. With the exception of some chemical imbalance, but not a bad imbalance. It's the only type that makes a person antsy and nervous, with the occasional mood swings but nothing serious."

Jacen frowned, "Nothing serious? Are you sure? Could you check again?"

"I could...and I have. I've run the tests five times, even checking myself, using the Force...I haven't seen any abnormalities." Tionne paused, "Jacen, you've been through a rough ordeal. I honestly wouldn't expect you to be a hundred percent, and I don't think anyone else would either,”

Jaina shrugged, “She’s right, bro. Stress, anxiety, we’ve all been through it.”

“Well thank you, Tionne. I appreciate your help.” Jacen cried as she turned, returning to her office. Jacen raked a hand through his hair, huffing, “I really thought it was something bad, or worse…”

“Bad like that?” Jaina asked.

“Turning into one of them,” Jacen replied, glancing at Tahiri. “Becoming something else you’re not.”

Jaina smiled, “As your sister, I have to say I really can’t see you as one of them, anyway. It just wouldn’t be right…anyway, I think we had enough excitement for one day.” She touched Jag’s hand briefly, tickling his palm as he followed her, leaving Jacen and Tahiri alone.

“I’m glad that’s over, too.” Tahiri mused, “The last thing we don’t need is to revisit some unpleasant memories…especially me.” Jacen smiled, kissing her forehead, “It’s just…when you thought the Vong did something to you, I remembered what it was like for me. They implanted false memories in me, gave me a name and a past…they could have very well had done the same thing to you, hoping to correct their mistake.”

“I know, I know and they could have, but they didn’t.” Jacen kissed her again, hugging her at the same time, “I can’t exactly say they did to me…”

Tahiri smiled, “Doesn’t matter. If you’re not ready to talk about it, I won’t push you and won’t allow anyone else to, either,”

“Thanks, baby.” Jacen whispered as the two of them left.

~~

Jaina frowned as Jag kissed her cheek, standing in front of her apartment. She was still shocked about what Jacen told her but it wasn’t difficult to figure out the situation that he was with Tahiri. She never expected ‘it’ to happen, and two, that Tahiri loved Anakin a lot.

Anakin Solo, the youngest Solo, died on Myrkr, but even though that was a month or two ago, it still stung. If Tahiri did love Anakin, which Jaina knew she did, it still seemed wrong that Tahiri would find happiness right away and with her newly resurrected brother!

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jag asked, reading the saddened expression on her face.

Jaina looked away from him, “I was thinking about Tahiri and Jacen. I want to say the two of them are right to be together…but somehow, I don’t know.” She huffed, “Anakin loved her very much. I just don’t understand how he could just push Jacen to be with her!”

“Sticks, you have to let this go. If your brother gave his blessing to Jacen, everything should be fine. Right?”

Still, Jaina wasn’t sure. Nothing seemed right to her. She didn’t know what happened to Jacen, while under the Vong and it didn’t look like he was going to talk anytime soon. Jag kissed her forehead, continuing, “Look, I don’t know very much about life after you die – spirits and beyond, but I don’t think what’s happening between Jacen and Tahiri is bad. It could be a good thing. Why else would Anakin push the two of them together?”

Jaina brought her head up, staring at him, wandering the same thing…and only one phrase came to her: ‘The Prophecy.’

“I’ll talk to you later,” Jaina replied, not even waiting for his reply as she suddenly burst into her apartment. Her first thought was to summon Anakin himself but she didn’t think she would get a reasonable answer from him. Master Ikrit, she wandered, looking around the apartment once more before actually calling, her voice louder this time, “Master Ikrit!”

_ Yes, Jaina Solo _ ? Ikrit replied as Jaina turned around, almost jumping herself when she saw him.

“The prophecy you spoke of before, about Anakin and Tahiri, tell me about it,” Jaina demanded, crossing her arms.

Ikrit sighed,  _ The prophecy is only meant for Anakin and Tahiri. _

She smiled sarcastically, “Well, in case you’ve been watching, Anakin isn’t exactly around anymore! The prophecy, I need to know.”

‘ _ The prophecy was meant for Anakin and Tahiri, but it didn’t necessarily involve them _ ,’ he paused, trying to remember, It said someone new will destroy the Vong, and that Anakin and Tahiri would be the key. But since Anakin is gone, Jacen must help Tahiri fulfill the prophecy. /[i]

Jaina growled, “So, Anakin is gone and Jacen must carry out Anakin’s part…”

_ ‘It’s more than that. Anakin’s power, his essence now extends to Jacen. So, you’re not completely wrong about him being gone. Your brother is still very much alive.’ _

“Wait a minute! How can Anakin be alive? I saw him die, I felt him die.” Jaina cried, pacing the room again, “You can’t tell me my brother is still alive when I know he isn’t. It isn’t fair to me…and Tahiri.

”

He smiled,  _ ‘I didn’t mean physically alive. Only his spirit is alive, still very weak.’ _

Jaina turned to him again, “What happens to Jacen once the prophecy is fulfilled?” He didn’t answer, making Jaina even more frustrated, “What will happen to him? Master Ikrit, I have to know!”

He huffed again,’Two things may happen. One, Jacen fulfills the prophecy and 

peace is restored to the galaxy. But in the process, Jacen dies and his spirit is exchanged for another, your younger brother.’

“And the second outcome?”

_ ‘Jacen does die but nothing changes, leaving you without a brother.’  _ He whispered.

“Someone always has to die in a prophecy, don’t they, or be sacrificed? You know what, it’s wrong! It should be rewritten because it’s stupid. If we destroy the Vong, we should be rewarded.”

_ ‘I don’t make the rules, Jaina. Believe me, I wish there were someway to work around the prophecy but it’s impossible.” _

“There has to be a loophole. Something’s missing. There has to be more,” she babbled, and then quickly added, “Tell me more about the prophecy.”

_ ‘There isn’t anymore. All of the text were lost when the Sith came to power.’ _

Jaina growled, “That’s unacceptable. Forget it, I’ll find out more...somehow.”

Ikrit bowed his head, _ ‘Very well. May the Force be with you…and good luck. He whispered, vanishing again.’’ _

tbc

  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A while later, Jacen slept peacefully as his arms were encircled around Tahiri’s waist, holding her close. Though he was sleepy, she was not. In fact, she was still worried about the vision Jacen had before. He did remember something. She felt his pain…he was scared. Tahiri’s frown deepened, realizing that there were still some nightmares that haunted him and it scared her.

Jacen sat crossed-legged across from Tahiri as he set his mind at ease. As a Jedi, he had practiced meditation maybe about more than one hundred times in his life but this time was different because he connected his life force with Tahiri, sharing each other’s pains and emotions. It was unusual and strange because no Jedi had ever shared their emotions with each other, via a Force link, especially through meditation. Meditation was a time for a Jedi to be by themselves, cut off from everyone else.

Tahiri squeezed his hand, a smile pursing her lips. For the first time in days and months, she was at peace not only with Anakin but herself. After Anakin died, it just seemed unfair that he left her alone, without even really realizing their strong connection. But now, somehow, she had reconnected with Anakin, letting him go in the process and allowing his brother into her heart.

_Jacen could faintly hear Tahiri whisper through their bond, ‘I love you’. But he could also hear other people whispering. He frowned, tensing up as the whispers grew louder and louder; so loud to the point that he recognized that the whispering was Vong, talking amongst themselves in their native tongue. He saw a Vong overseer, standing over his own fallen body, scarred and bruised from beatings._

_Jacen glared up at him, chained against the wall, darkness surrounding the cell. If he weren’t chained and blocked from using his Force powers, he would have lunged from his place, killing him. But the most important thing was that he wanted too, and if he wasn’t in chains and had killed him, he would have enjoyed it._

_The warrior barked something at him but Jacen only assumed he was insulting him. After he didn’t reply, the warrior raised his staff, bringing it down on top of Jacen’s head._

_Jacen raised his arms over his head, to protect himself against the warrior’s blow. Tahiri, who had already felt his pain beforehand, set herself beside him, holding his head in her lap, stroking his hair._

_The Vong tortured him, made him wear the Embrace of Pain, violating his soul. For months, he really hadn’t thought about what they had done to him – but now, everything they did to him, was coming back in full force. Every memory of pain, suffering and hopelessness._

Jacen breathed heavily, closing his eyes as he fought back the tears, threatening to overwhelm him. Tahiri brushed his cheek, stroking it lightly. He caught her palm as it made a pass staring at it as if it held some answer. 

“Jacen, you need to work through this,” Tahiri whispered as Jacen began to trail soft kisses around her palm, leading to her arm. “No seriously, you need to work through this. I will help you but intimacy now isn’t the best solution. You’re just remembering painful memories of your captivity,” Tahiri rambled, trying to resist the urge to let herself go.

Finally, Jacen brought his head up, staring into her green eyes while his index finger traced the curves of her face. “Tahiri, you complete me. You know that? I love you so much…”

She smiled nervously, “I love you too, Jacen. So much.” Tahiri paused, as Jacen kissed her neck. 

~~

A while later, Jacen slept peacefully as his arms were encircled around Tahiri’s waist, holding her close. Though he was sleepy, she was not. In fact, she was still worried about the vision Jacen had before. He did remember something. She felt his pain…he was scared. Tahiri’s frown deepened, realizing that there were still some nightmares that haunted him and it scared her.

“Tahiri?” Jacen questioned as he woke up, turning his body to face her and smiled, “Hey baby.” She smiled slightly, but she was still uneasy. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

“What did you see that made you cry?” Tahiri asked, crying herself.

“I didn’t think you knew I cried.”

Tahiri pointed to her own eyes, “You see my tears, Jacen? I want to help you and I want to be there for you, but I can’t do that if you won’t tell me what happened,” then added, “I won’t tell your family if you don’t want me to,”

“They tortured me, Tahiri.”

“No, there’s more. You cried Jacen.”

“The Vong – I gave them a chase for a while but I could only do that for so long. I allowed them to capture me, Tahiri.” He whispered, looking into her eyes again. If she was shocked, he couldn’t tell. “They had to have known who I was because they kept me in a cell, away from the slave quarter. Two warriors stood outside of my cell and two more were posted inside. A general or something always gave orders to the guards. He never asked any questions, but he tortured me. Some days he would strike me with an amphistaff for hours; other days he would force the Embrace of Pain on me, and sit back, watching me as I reacted to it.”

“The amphistaff wasn’t too bad but the Embrace…it was so much worse. I always ended up violently trembling afterwards, feeling cold and damp. I can’t describe what I went through, Tahiri, but at one point, I felt like I should have been dead.” He laughed to himself, “I guess that’s when you’ve given up all hope. You think about your own death, forgetting everything else that is sweet in the universe.”

Tahiri was silent for a while, unsure how to react. When she was under the Vong’s control, at first, she resisted them but at some point, she gave up too. In a way, they were both weak for giving in, though the circumstances of capture were very different. 

When she was composed, Tahiri smiled hopefully, asking, “How did you escape? Did someone help you?”

“Yes. Vergere did, but she died before I got out. We were cornered by maybe ten Vong warriors. I told her I wasn’t leaving without her, but she pushed me away, yelling to get out. I didn’t want to leave her there because I knew if I did, she would die but if I didn’t go, I would die as well. So, I crawled through the small passageway she found.”

“And Anakin?” Tahiri asked.

Jacen smiled, “After I had gotten a safe distance away, Anakin appeared to me, guiding me to safety…to you.” Tahiri smiled, kissing his cheek briefly as he continued, “I was so weak, Tahiri. If I hadn’t died earlier than that…Anakin, he helped me. We were bonded as brothers in life, but in death, through spirit.”

Tahiri gulped, recalling the first night they saw each other, “That’s why instead of going straight to your family, you came to me instead,”

“He wanted to see you one last time…to hold you, like this.” He whispered, brushing his fingers down her left shoulder,” and love you, like this.”

“You both love me, then?”

Jacen laughed, “Always. Always, my love.”

~~

Tahiri got up from the bed, put on a robe and walked out into the main room. Moments after Jacen told her about what happened, he fell asleep again, leaving Tahiri to her thoughts. She knew there wasn’t even a chance that Anakin could return, but even so they both loved her very much. Anakin, she was sure, still loved her.

Now her feelings were conflicted. She loved Jacen very much, but at the same time it felt she was betraying Anakin’s memory. Even if Anakin did say to him to let her go, it felt cold. Maybe he only said that because he realized it was impossible for them to be together. He still loved her. Jacen even said so, and he had told her everything.

Something wasn’t right.

~~< _Tahiri. Tahiri, I need to talk to you. It’s Jaina._ >~~ a voice called, summoning her to the door. Tahiri pressed her palm to the receiver as the door opened and an excited Jaina walked inside. 

“I’m glad I caught you. I need to tell you something very important. It’s about the prophecy, Master Ikrit revealed to Anakin before he died.”

Tahiri plopped herself down on the living room couch. Here she was just thinking about Anakin and his brother and now his sister wanted to talk about a prophecy. This was not what she needed to hear right now but Tahiri didn’t say anything.

“I asked, well, rather demanded to know about the prophecy. He said the prophecy was meant for you and Anakin, but it didn’t necessarily involve you. The prophecy said someone new will destroy the Vong, and the two of you would be the key. But since Anakin is gone, Jacen must help you fulfill the prophecy. “

“That’s interesting, but I still don’t understand how Jacen is involved in all of this?”

Jaina smiled, “Anakin’s power, his essence now extends to Jacen. But of course, there are some problems with the whole prophecy deal. Two things could happen. One, Jacen does fulfill the prophecy and peace is restored to the galaxy. But in the process, Jacen dies and his spirit is exchanged for Anakin’s.”

“And the second outcome?”

“Jacen does die but nothing changes. Life continues as it is.” Jaina replied. Tahiri stared at her for a minute before bursting into tears. Jaina frowned, hugging her, not really sure what else to do since she really didn’t know why she was suddenly overly emotional. “Um, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you about this…”

“It’s not that. It’s Anakin. He still loves me.”

“Um Tahiri, I think you lost me somewhere. How do you know Anakin still loves you?” Jaina asked.

“Jacen. He told me a while ago and now you’re telling me if this prophecy thing falls through, Anakin may come back, making things even more complicated for Jacen and me!”

Jaina shrugged, “He might not. Things might stay the same.”

Tahiri sniffed, “No, you don’t understand! Both your brothers love me and now there’s the possibility, one of them might come back…both of them will be vying for my heart.”

“Oh, oh! I’m sorry, Tahiri. I didn’t mean…I didn’t realize the scenario. But it’s only a fifty/fifty chance. It might not even happen…” Jaina reminded her, as Tahiri gave her a look. “Or it might.”

“What am I supposed to tell Jacen when he wakes up? Should I even tell him about the prophecy?”

Jaina huffed, reasoning, “No, not yet. Not until I have more details. There’s no need to make things even more complicated.” She stood up, smiling at her, “Have a nice night.”

Tahiri smiled the same watching her leave.

tbc


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, she did but the idea of sneaking around just felt dirty. On the other hand, there was a thrill to it. Finally Jacen stopped in his tracks, looking back at Tahiri and pulling her into an empty room. Jacen smiled mischievously, pinning her against the wall and kissing his girlfriend passionately. Tahiri smiled, kissing him back. Oh yeah, love that thrill.

Tionne fidgeted as she stood in front of Luke and Mara’s quarters. When Tahiri and Jacen originally approached her she was curious about their sudden closeness but told herself it was none of her business. She knew it wasn’t her place to object. But then she overheard the conversation they had in the lab. They were close, very close.

As the door swooshed open, Luke smiled politely at her, “Yes Tionne, what is it?”

“I need to talk to you. It’s about Tahiri and Jacen…if now isn’t the best time, I can come back later.”

Luke only smiled, “I talked to Jacen earlier…if this is what I think it is, you can come in.”

Mara was seated on the couch, Ben resting in her arms as she entered. Luke gestured that she sit down, but Tionne was too nervous to stay put. “You know Jacen asked me to do some blood work?”

“Yes. I hope everything is alright?” Luke answered, as Mara only listened, not asking questions until she felt it was right to.

“Everything was fine. No abnormalities, just post traumatic stress.” She paused, not really sure how to phrase what she was going to say next, “I know it was none of my business, but I had some suspicion something was happening between the two of them. Then, when they returned to the lab…everything was clear.”

Mara bent forward, careful not to awaken Ben, “What was clear?”

“Jacen and Tahiri, it seems, are a couple. They’re together.” Luke and Mara exchanged glances but said nothing as Tionne continued. “Jag and Jaina were there, too but I don’t think they knew. At least, I don’t think so.”

Luke scratched his chin, “This would explain why he’s been so secretive and wanting to be alone…”

“Did you confront them about this?” Mara interrupted.

Tionne shrugged, “What was I supposed to say? I said it was none of my business, plus they trusted me. Doctor patient confidence.”

Luke looked at Mara, “Jacen said he was seeing someone, when he confronted Danni but he didn’t say who…He probably hid it because he thought everyone would disapprove.”

“Thank you, Tionne.” Mara replied. Tionne smiled hopefully as she stood up, leaving them alone. Mara laughed, rolling her eyes, “Jacen and Tahiri. That certainly was something I wasn’t expecting, but it kinda makes sense.”

“How so?”

Mara smiled, “Well, they were both close to Anakin…besides, when Tahiri was younger, she had a small crush on Jacen but was too timid to say anything.”

“Should we tell Han and Leia or play along and act like nothing is different?”

His wife shrugged, snuggling closer to him, “Play along. Let them believe we don’t know. It’ll make things more interesting. I have a feeling everything will be revealed in due time.”

“Deal.” Luke agreed, “This should definitely be interesting.”

~~

A week later, Jaina Solo joined her mother, father, General Antilles, Gavin Darklighter, Tycho Celchu, Booster Terrik and her aunt and uncle in one of the main conference rooms on the base. Initially, she didn’t even know she was being invited. She just assumed they included her to keep an eye on her, but Jaina felt it was more. She turned to Jagged Fel and Kyp Durron.

Jag had already had an instant invite because Wedge was his nephew; Kyp on the other hand demanded to be there, which didn’t make Jaina too happy.

“What’s this all about, Antilles?” Booster asked, glaring at Kyp. No one on the base really liked Kyp. Most of the people he knew or had come in contact with hated him with a passion. So, it surprised everyone when Jaina and Kyp had actually become ‘friends’.

Wedge huffed, glancing at Jaina, “Booster, it won’t be very long until the Vong move in and try to retake Borealis, which means we have to act fast and now, preferably.”

Jaina shrugged, leaning forward, “What do you want to do?”

He smiled suddenly, “I’m glad you asked that Jaina, because what I have in store for the Vong involves you.”

The young Jedi frowned, looking over Kyp and Jag who only shrugged as Wedge continued, “According to belief, the Vong think Jaina is some type of goddess called Yun Harla. Even the slaves believe this. We need to play with that, making it appear we believe the same thing.”

“Wait a minute!” Jaina cried, “A goddess? What type of goddess?”

“A trickster,” Gavin replied, “The job would entail special treatment to the point of isolation. You’d have to be seen getting benefits and considerations that you haven’t earned, which will cause bad feelings among pilots who have earned them. You’d only be able to talk freely with people who were in on the secret, and only in areas that Intelligence has certified are free of listeners.” 

He paused, “It’s going to distance you from people.”

Jaina glanced at Jag again. The idea of special benefits did sound appealing but isolation, away from everyone, especially Jag. She and Jag had just started getting closer, and now they would drift apart. And Jacen, she still had to work on that prophecy.

The prophecy.

Special perks, maybe she would be allowed access to records. Jaina immediately perked up, smiling broadly, “I don’t like the isolation part, but I can deal with the special treatment and privileges.” She paused again, “but this is only a cover, right? What else do I have to do?”

“Fool the Vong. Play with their minds.” Tycho replied.

She shrugged, “That I can do easily. Is that it?”

“Yes, unless there’s anything else you would like to address, Goddess?” Wedge asked.

Jaina couldn’t help but smile. Goddess. She liked the sound of that. It had a nice feel to it, but no, she had other issues to address. “Yes, I do. The Jedi Prophecy, regarding Anakin.”

Luke groaned, “Yes, Jaina. What is it?”

“I was just wondering if it was possible for someone to be resurrected from the dead? I mean, has it been known to happen?” she asked, hearing Luke groan again. “This does have to do with Anakin. I won’t lie to you about that, but Master Ikrit said Anakin’s life-force now extends to Jacen and I just wanted to know if that was possible?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know about resurrection, Jaina but a Jedi powerful enough can have their life essence extend to someone who is living.”

Jaina smiled, glancing at Jag and Kyp. Kyp had a confused expression on his face, but Jag only smiled, “Thank you, that will be all mortals.”

~~

Jaina dropped into her chair after everyone left the conference room. Jag and Kyp had stayed behind; Kyp especially wanted to know about the deal behind this whole prophecy thing Jaina was talking about. The Jedi Master crossed his arms, waiting for her reply. Jaina only rolled her eyes, “You know Jacen is back, right?”

“Of course, I do.” He paused, “So, what’s the deal with this prophecy thing?”

“Before Anakin died, he and Tahiri were part of this big grand plan to overthrow or stop the Vong. Now Anakin’s dead and Jacen is alive, Jacen must carry on the prophecy – which means Anakin’s life-essence now extends to Jacen.”

Kyp shrugged, “I buy that, but why are you still a little bit angry?”

“I’m angry because after all of this, Anakin may or may not be resurrected, and Jacen may die.” 

She glanced at Jag, “Now assuming I will have access to private records, which I think I will, I can look up more information on this prophecy deal and see if there’s a loophole.”

Kyp breathed, glancing back at Jag, “You know about this, Fel?”

“I’m the one that gave her the idea.” Jag smiled.

He turned, looking back at Jaina as she continued, “You have to keep this quiet, Jag. No one can know about what the rest of the prophecy entails. Mom and dad find out, they would be devastated. We just got Jacen back; I got just my brother back. I don’t want to lose him again.”

“I will, Jaina. Promise.” Kyp murmured, “Is there anything else you need? You talked about access to records? I’m assuming you’re talking about historical Jedi records. I can’t guarantee I can get them, but I’ll see what I can do, Goddess.” He gave a salute, leaving the conference room in silence.

~~

Jagged Fel looked at Jaina as she collected her thoughts. He did not know much about this prophecy, so he was as much in the dark as Kyp was. But according to Jaina, it had something to do with maybe Anakin returning from the dead…or something in that nature. Jaina breathed slowly, standing up.

“Tired?” he asked.

“Not tired, just preoccupied,” Jaina replied, looking at him and smiling, “Walk me home, mortal?”

Jag extended his arm to her. Jaina took it graciously, snuggling closer to him as the two walked out of the conference room. Thankfully, the halls were empty, but appearances could be deceiving. Few people on base knew that he and Jaina were a couple; Jacen was the only one that really suspected there was more between the pilots but Jaina denied all allegations. The two had realized their growing feelings for each other that day in Jaina’s apartment when Jacen came to apologize. They had agreed to keep things quiet, until the time was right to say something.

But now Jaina was a Goddess, it was going to be hard for them to spend time together unless they made excuses to be together…

Jaina snuggled closer to him, almost hiding her face. Jag smiled, looking down at her. “Hey, is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine. I was just thinking… Now, I’m Goddess, are we still gonna be able to see each other and how, if possible?”

Jag shrugged, “My Uncle did say you had special privileges…maybe if you ask him for a squadron of your own, and me to command it…”

At that, Jaina immediately frowned, “You command it? What about me? I’m a pilot too, ya know...unless you were my second in command? What do you say, Fel? I mean, would you mind if I ordered you around?”

He smiled, kissing her nose, “As you wish, Goddess. Whatever you wish.”

Jaina giggled, “A girl could get used to this,” she whispered back before pulling into one of the empty rooms and kissing him passionately.

~~

Tahiri sighed, snuggling next to Jacen, in yet another night spent in his arms. Some nights, all they would do was talk, either about the war or the future, if there was one. But never once did Tahiri bring up the details about the prophecy. Everything was going smoothly, she didn’t want to lose Jacen right away. He was special to her…

“Hey, I have an idea? Why don’t we go out?” Jacen stated, interrupting her thoughts.

She smiled partially, looking at him, “Is that wise? What if someone sees us together?”

Jacen only shrugged, kissing her forehead, “We’ll be careful…you don’t want to be cooped up in this apartment forever, do you?”

Tahiri sighed, “I wish…” Jacen frowned, looking at her as she paused. It looked like she wanted to say something important but she decided against it, and smiled in return, “Sure, why not? It’ll be fun.”

“That’s my girl.” Jacen replied, kissing her forehead one last time before grabbing his things together.

~~

Tahiri walked beside Jacen as they headed towards the cafeteria. Very few pilots noticed them once they entered, but Tahiri did notice some Jedi - Corran Horn and Luke Skywalker. 

"C'mon," Jacen whispered, dragging Tahiri toward them.

Corran stood up immediately, grabbing Jacen in a bug hug, "It's good to have you back, Jacen!"

"Yeah, thanks." Jacen mumbled, glancing at his Uncle. "Um, have you two seen Jaina?"

Luke said, "Yes. All of us were in a conference. She and Jag were the last to leave, but I don't know where they are now."

"Conference about what, Master Skywalker?" Tahiri asked.

"Nothing serious, Tahiri. Just gathering information. Tactics, that sort of thing." Corran replied.

Tahiri smiled kindly, mumbling, "Oh," and looked down.

"So, what are you two doing here?" Luke asked, trying to contain his smirk. He and Mara knew his nephew and Tahiri were a couple, but they decided not to let them know they knew.

"Hanging out," they both replied, giving each other worried looks.

Corran 'hmm'd glancing at Luke, but didn't say anything about his suspicion. "Well, have fun. I'm sure there's lots of things on base to keep you two busy..."

Tahiri all of the sudden started laughing, "Keep busy...of course." 

Corran smiled, leaving the three alone. Luke smiled, crossing his arms, "Jacen, it's good to see you're out of your apartment and walking. What were you doing there? Meditating?"

"Yes! I was meditating, recuperating..." Jacen replied, glancing at Tahiri. "And keeping busy, but today I realized it was time for me to get out in the real world."

Tahiri laughed again, hitting Jacen, "I forced him, too. Gave him the whole 'you have to leave your apartment and face reality' talk."

"And he listened," Luke added, "That's good. I'll leave now...to face reality." The Jedi Master bowed his head, walking the opposite way, laughing to himself.

After Luke was gone, Jacen looked back at Tahiri, "Maybe we should go somewhere else, away from people so we can be alone." he suggested.

"Back to the apartment?"

"No, just somewhere else."

~~

Tahiri tried to catch up with Jacen as he walked quickly down the hall. She wasn’t quite sure what he had in mind in order to be alone…

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, she did but the idea of sneaking around just felt dirty. On the other hand, there was a thrill to it. Finally Jacen stopped in his tracks, looking back at Tahiri and pulling her into an empty room. Jacen smiled mischievously, pinning her against the wall and kissing his girlfriend passionately. Tahiri smiled, kissing him back. Oh yeah, love that thrill.

“Oh Jag!” a voice cried.

Tahiri frowned, as Jacen stopped kissing her looking about the room. It was dark of course, but his Jedi senses told him someone else was there, too. Two people, in fact. Tahiri felt it too. Jacen huffed, ordering the lights on then jumped back when he faced his sister and Jagged Fel.

Jaina frowned, her blouse loose around her waist and her hair a total mess. Jag on the other hand looked worse. Tahiri smiled, trying not to laugh at the situation. 

Jacen glared at her and she quieted down. “I can’t believe this…after you told me there was nothing going on between you and Jag, and here you are!” Jacen started, as Jag quickly cleaned himself up.

“Sorry, Jacen…I, Jag and I…Ooh, remember the day you tried to apologize to me, Jag, well, he, sort of came over and we were talking and, well – surprise!” Jaina rambled, frowning.

“I don’t even want to think about how far the two of you would have gone if Tahiri and I hadn’t come in.”

Jaina laughed, “Oh please, Jacen. Think about it. What would have happened if the situation was reversed – I would be yelling at you for being irresponsible and I…”

“Would be right, but so would you Jaina!”

“I get it. I get it.” Jaina mumbled, looking back at Jag, “Look Jacen, Jag and I already know the two of you are together, so there’s no reason Wedge needs to know Jag and I are seeing each other.”

Jacen crossed his arms, “Your point?”

Jaina smiled, taking her brother aside, “I won’t tell mom and dad you and Tahiri are together, and you don’t tell Wedge about Jag and I.”

He sneered, “Blackmail, huh? Who knew you could be an evil sister? Fine, it’s a deal. But I don’t want to catch the both of you in this position again, ever!”

His twin smiled, hugging him, “Oh believe me, I don’t either.”

tbc

  
  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Nice way to get their attention, honey.”

Tahiri smirked as she and Jacen left the empty room. Jacen was still a little bit angry with his sister, but Tahiri found the situation very amusing. He glared at her again, "You think that this is funny?"

She shrugged, "The expression on your face when you saw Jag and Jaina together," she giggled, "It was very funny."

Jacen tensed but then smiled, raising his eyebrow, "Oh really? And what expression was that?" he asked, corning her.

"Your eyes wide-open, practically falling all over yourself. I was shocked you were even able to form words."

He grunted, "Jaina wasn't able to...and she's the older sibling."

Tahiri smiled, "Exactly the point." Jacen leaned down, caressing her cheek and then kissed her. Tahiri stood absolutely still, living in the moment.

"Jacen?"

Jacen groaned, turning around, expecting to see Jaina again but was surprised when he didn't. 

The Jedi yelped, nearly jumping, "Wedge!" Tahiri bit her lip, turning and ducking away. Jacen waved his hand, using the Force to mask her escape, and he smiled. "Is there anything I can do for you, Wedge?"

Wedge shrugged, "I was wondering if you saw your sister. I need to go over some tactics with her."

He frowned, "Why would you need to go over tactics with her?"

The pilot scowled, taking him aside, "Since you're family, I know I can trust you. Anyone else, no. The staff meeting this morning...I asked Jaina to be a decoy."

"Decoy? Why Jaina?"

Wedge shrugged, "She's the only one that's been linked to one of their gods. A Yun Harla."

"How many people know about this rousé?"

"Leia, Han, Mara Luke, Gavin, Tycho, Jag, Kyp and Jaina, of course." Wedge replied, "And now, you."

Jacen huffed, looking at him again, "Jag knows?"

Wedge smiled, "Of course Jag knows. He's family, Jacen."

Jacen chuckled, "I can't believe he knows...I wonder what else he knows.."

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind." Jacen paused, extending his hand to him, "Good luck, I guess and Wedge...this is my sister we're talking about..."

He smiled, "I know, I know. I'll keep her safe."

Jacen laughed, "I'm not worried about that. She's a Jedi. I mean, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid," and added silently, "It kinda runs in the family."

Wedge smiled, "I know what you mean. I'll watch her for you, and I'll tell Jag to do the same." 

Again, Jacen had to stifle a laugh as he turned and left. Jacen really wasn't sure how Wedge would react if he ever found out about his nephew and Jaina. On second thought, Wedge was a nice, calm guy. If anyone would flip out, it would have to be their father.

"Is he gone?" Tahiri cried, interrupting Jacen's thoughts. He nodded as Tahiri walked back into the hall, "That was too close."

"Agreed," Jacen mused, "We need to go somewhere where we won't run into people we know, or are related to."

Tahiri shrugged, "That's a tough one, but I think I have an idea."

Jacen hesitated, pulling her back to him, "Better than my idea, I hope?"

She smiled, kissing his cheek, "Oh, it is. Follow me."

~~

Jacen smiled, closing his eyes as he felt the hot, wet mist surround him. He had already begun to sweat after he and Tahiri entered the arboretum. It was peaceful and beautiful -- and no one to disturb them, except the soft sounds of birds chirping. Jacen breathed, opening his eyes and looked at Tahiri. Her blonde hair was already sticking to her head and clinging to her neck because of the heat and her cheeks were a rosy pink. She looked so beautiful, so sexy.

"Well, what do you think?"

Jacen smiled, walking her to a corner, "I think...I think...I don't know. I can't think at all. It's either the high temperature in here or the fact that you are absolutely sexy right now."

Tahiri blushed, feeling his body heat rise as Jacen leaned down and kissed her. Only this time, it was more sensual and sexy. Do those words even go together, Tahiri thought.

Suddenly, Jacen bent down, picking her up and walking into one of the covered gardens...

~~

Tahiri sighed as Jacen rested his head on her breast. Today had certainly been interesting, to say the least but none of that mattered anymore. Tahiri had her man. Her man. She had never really thought of Jacen that way. Her man, her god. And he was a god. She was lucky.

Tahiri frowned, her thoughts returning to the prophecy. She couldn't hide it from him anymore. More than anything, she hoped Jacen didn't have to die. She just found him, but worse, what if Anakin came back and he wanted her back?

"Jacen, I need to talk to you. It's very important," she whispered so softly, Tahiri wasn't even sure the words left her mouth.

He only shrugged, his fingers trailing around her arm. "What is it, love?"

Tahiri huffed, struggling to continue, "I need to tell you something. I, uh, did Anakin ever tell you what Master Ikrit said to him before he died?"

"No."

Tahiri hesitated, breathing slowly, "My Master said Anakin and I - that we were a part of this big prophecy thing to destroy the Vong..."

Jacen frowned, turned and looked at her, listening intently. "But now Anakin is dead, you have to carry on his part and if you're successful...Oh, Sithspawn, this isn't fair!"

Jacen raised his hand, stroking her cheek, "What isn't fair, baby?"

"You'll die." Tahiri whispered. Jacen frowned, breathing heavily now as Tahiri continued to cry. "Or Anakin might be resurrected...either way, it's very complicated."

"I would say so," Jacen cried, "who else knows about this?"

Tahiri sniffed, "Jaina and Jag. Jaina's the one that remembered the prophecy and pieced the puzzle together. She didn't want to tell you until she had more information, but I couldn't keep this from you anymore." she paused, still crying, "Jacen, I love you. I don't want to lose you."

He smiled partially as she continued, "I've given you my heart. It's safe in your hands but I don't want to lose you. I can never lose you," Tahiri smiled, taking his hand and placing it over her heart, "You're already in me. You're a part of me, and I can't afford to lose you. I need to believe in a miracle - that this prophecy thing won't happen and you won't die."

Jacen wiped away her tears, "I need to believe in a miracle, too," He leaned down, kissing her softly, whispering, "and I love you, too. I know we haven't exactly said it to each other, but I love you Tahiri. And you've already become a part of me."

"Now, what do we do?"

He shrugged, "There's no way I can keep this prophecy thing a secret from my family. Jaina already knows."

Tahiri gulped. "If we tell them - what do we tell them about us? What if they ask questions?"

"We can't lie anymore. We have to tell them," Jacen gasped, taking her hand from his heart and kissing it, "but no matter what happens, remember I love you."

"I'll remember. Always." Tahiri whispered, kissing him back.

~~

Hero (CH21)

By Obi’s Girl

Jacen looked back at Tahiri as the two of them stood in front of his parent’s apartment. She nodded, urging him on. They really had no other choice. Jacen huffed again, pressing his thumb to the COM pad. He frowned, remembering what Tahiri said to him in the arboretum. Last week, he had so much energy and now he knew he might possibly die for the good of the galaxy and for peace, it was starting to dampen his spirits. Most of all, he didn’t want to be separated from Tahiri. She had been through a lot of pain and heartache and he didn’t want that for her. She deserved so much more, to be happy.

He sniffed as the door slid open and he stood face-to-face with his mother. Her long brown hair was bound into a bun, her eyes sore from crying. Oh, perfect. Here, they were bringing bad news and his mother had already been crying, probably for him. Tahiri gently squeezed his arm, pushing him inside. He smiled thanks to her as Leia called Han. She smiled, gesturing as they sat down. Tahiri sat down, but Jacen was too nervous to sit.

“Sorry for bothering you like this, mom…I, we have something to tell you.” Jacen started as his father entered the room, followed by Luke and his aunt Mara. “I, uh, Tahiri and I, we’ve been hanging out lately and gotten a little bit closer too. We’re, we’ve been seeing each other. We’re a couple.”

Jacen tried to read his family’s emotions. Leia seemed shocked and ready for another round of tears, too. Mara only smirked, hiding her face in Luke’s shoulder. Obviously, they knew but who told them was the big question. Han on the other hand only grunted, not really sure how to react. 

Jacen shrugged, looking back at Tahiri, “And Jaina and Jag are a couple, too.”

Han immediately jumped up, falling over himself, “Fel? He’s with my little girl?”

Tahiri giggled, “Nice way to get their attention, honey.”

Leia leaned forward, looking at Jacen, “Why didn’t you tell us this?”

Han didn’t hear anything else, still baffled about Jaina and Jag as Jacen continued, “We didn’t want to tell you because we weren’t exactly sure how you would react. Anakin just died and Tahiri was really close to him.”

“Jaina, my little girl and that hot shot pilot?” Han questioned, still dumbfounded.

Leia only rolled her eyes, focusing on Jacen and Tahiri again. “No one is judging you, Jacen, or you, Tahiri. I know how much Anakin cared for you, but…I feel there’s something else you came here to tell us.”

“There is,” Tahiri replied, “I’m assuming you were in the staff meeting this morning?”

“Yes, we were. Jaina asked if it was possible that Anakin could return from the dead.” Leia recalled, “and that it had something to do with a prophecy. But she didn’t say anymore than that. Tahiri, I don’t understand – what’s this all about?”

Tahiri looked back at Jacen as he sat down beside her, relaxing a bit. “Anakin and I, we were supposed to stop the Vong, somehow. But things are different now. Anakin’s dead, and Jacen is back…which means he has to fulfill the prophecy.”

Leia was still unsure, “There’s something else. Something missing.”

“Master Ikrit, he said there are two outcomes. We save the galaxy, which is good, but Jacen may die, Anakin comes back or Jacen dies anyway and Anakin doesn’t come back. Boy, I just love those prophecies. They’re really great at being very vague...and pointless,” 

Mara added, crossing her arms. Luke shot her a glare and she quieted down. “Is there anything more?”

Jacen shrugged, “Maybe. If it's at all possible, we kinda want to avoid the dying part. Dying, well, I’m not ready for that.”

Luke smiled, “I think we all want to avoid that part.” The Jedi Master paused, “Any ideas on how to stop the Vong?”

The two shrugged, “Not really.” Tahiri mused, “Even if we could somehow get inside one of their world ships, it would still be very dangerous. We’d have to get to the core, the main base.”

“I don’t think Vong has a main headquarters. They’re scattered all over the galaxy.” Mara stated. 

“But you’re right, Tahiri. If we could locate their main base, we could disable them from there. Of course, attacking from the inside isn’t always a bad idea.”

The four were silent for a time, when Han suddenly growled, “I swear I’m going to kill Jag.” At that, Leia hit his arm so hard, Han jumped, sitting back down.

“Oooh, I got it! I think. Remember on Yag’dul, you guys froze the planet, killing all life forms? We could implant a cold virus into one of our torpedoes, have someone launch it, homing in on one of the ships. The torpedo would be set for a number of minutes, maybe seconds before it would blow up, enveloping the entire ship in ice. All defense systems would be knocked out.” Tahiri cried, smiling proudly.

Mara shrugged, “It could work, but we’d have to have a lot of torpedoes. I’m not even sure the military has that much.”

Han leaned forward, “No, wait a minute…” Leia gave him a look, thinking he was going to start in on Jag again, but he ignored it, “The Vong are from the Unknown Territories. Jag, if the Chiss have encountered the Vong before, they must have at least some knowledge of their weaknesses. We can’t just rush into things without thinking, even though that is the Solo way of doing things.”

Jacen smiled, glancing at Tahiri, “Maybe. Tahiri and I can stop by Jaina’s apartment and ask..”

“Then, I’m coming too.” Han added as Jacen gave him the same look his mother gave him. “I want to talk give her fatherly advice.”

“Yeah, then spit her out like food. Dad, Jaina’s a big girl now. She can take care of herself.” Jacen added and then frowned, remembering the small encounter they had earlier and smiled, “On second thought, you want to come with, that’s fine with me. She could use a little discipline.”

tbc


	10. Chapter 10

Jaina smiled, sleeping peacefully next to Jag and snuggling closer to him. As a Goddess, Jaina was allowed to move out of the flight’s hall and into a more luxurious and bigger apartment than the old one, complete with a queen size bed. More privacy and no COM’s, or commanding officer telling her she needed to attend a briefing. She still had to attend briefings, but she could afford to be late because she knew in the end, she wouldn’t be penalized for it.

Jag was also one of the perks. She could spend as much time with him as she wanted, and no one would question her. She was so happy with Jag. Although he was raised on Chiss, he was born a Corellian. Being raised in that type of society, he never rushed into situations or acted stupidly. He probably never even got in trouble when he was teenager. She and her brothers were always in trouble as kids…no matter the situation.

He smiled, turning over and waking up, “Sleep well, Goddess?”

“I’m fine,” Jaina replied, then suddenly bolted up, shrieking, and nearly knocking Jag out of bed and onto the floor. “Oh, sorry Honey! It’s just, well, my father’s on his way here.”

Jag scrambled to his feet, grabbing his things and rushing towards the closet. Jaina herself, huffed, clearing the bed and putting her clothes on. On her way to the door, she stopped by the closet, opening it slightly and smiled at Jag. “Don’t worry. There’s no need to panic yet. I’ll distract dad.”

He leaned back on the closet wall as Jaina closed the door. She straightened out her clothes once more before opening the door. To her dismay, her father wasn’t alone. Jacen, Tahiri and her mother were with him. Jaina groaned.

If her mother was there, then she was in trouble, big trouble. Han pushed past his daughter, storming into the apartment as Leia simply walked in, quietly sitting down on one of the lounge chairs and Jacen and Tahiri stood back, holding each other’s hands. Han roamed about the apartment, growling and muttering.

At one point as he passed, Jaina was able to make-out the words, “Jagged Fel is a dead man!” Jaina groaned, looking at her mother who only shrugged.

Leia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, “While your father is looking for Jag, we need to talk. Jacen just told us that he and Tahiri are dating…” Jaina frowned, glaring at her brother. “But that isn’t important. This prophecy thing is. There has to be some loophole in this whole thing.”

Jaina shrugged, “I thought there was one, too. But now that I think about, I don’t think there’s any way around it.”

“Who’s this new person that was mentioned? Tahiri told me on the way over that there will be a new person that will destroy the Vong, and that it won’t necessarily be a Jedi.” Leia added.

In the background, Han opened the closet door, grabbing hold of Jagged Fel and pulled him out. 

Jaina winced, slowly backing away but Jacen and Tahiri blocked her path, forcing her to stay. Jacen shrugged, oblivious to his father, looking at his sister, “What about old warriors long forgotten, or some mythical warrior?”

“Maybe. But we’d have to do some heavy research, but it could take years to actually crack this thing. We need an answer now.” Tahiri replied, “The longer we wait, the less we can actually do to stop the Vong.”

Leia agreed with her as she focused her attention back on Han and Jag. “Jag, you know family means everything to me, especially my kids. Wedge may not mind that you and daughter are a couple, but me, I mind. I know the two of you have a history, but Jaina has priorities now and she…”

“Is a big girl, daddy!” Jaina interrupted, glaring at her father, “Dad, I love Jag. But you have to remember I’m not a kid anymore. I’m almost 20, ya know. That’s not a kid’s age.”

Leia smiled, nudging Han, “Han, your daughter is right. We can’t treat her like a kid anymore, but we can ask her to act responsibly.”

“I can act responsibly, I swear. No games, nothing.” Jaina defended. 

Han huffed, raising an eyebrow, “I still don’t like it – you and Jag. You kids are growing up so fast…your mother and I have been through so much, I don’t want to lose you, kid.”

Jaina smiled, tears clouding her eyes as she looked back at him, “You never will.” She smiled at her mother and then looked back at her dad. Han was still holding Jag by the collar, almost ready to kill him. “Um dad, could you ease up on the grip there? Jag’s about ready to pass out.”

Han laughed, letting go and dropping Jag onto the floor. “Oh well, we wouldn’t want that.” He smiled slyly and then glared at Jag, “but listen up Fel, if you ever hurt my little girl, you’re gonna be in a lot of trouble. Not only will you have to deal with me and Jacen, but the rest of us…and her aunt.”

Jag agreed, “Yes sir. I understand.” 

Jaina smiled, kissing Jag’s cheek. “Now, what’s our focus?”

“Hurting the Vong as badly as we can.” Leia replied, “but we’re gonna need some help. Jag, I need you to call your father and ask him a really, really big favor.”

“No problem, but him actually listening is a problem.” Jag replied, glancing at Jaina, “What do you need?”

Jacen whispered, “I know,” Everyone turned to him. Jag raised an eyebrow, looking at him, “I know what I have to do – to stop the Vong. My role, what I have to do. I know what it is.”

Han laughed, “Well, it’s about time someone figured what to do. Spill it, Jacen!”

“I can’t.” he mumbled, and everyone groaned, “But I’d like to talk to your father, Jag. If everything doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, we’re all going to be in big trouble.”

~~

Tahiri stood close to Jacen, leaving his sister’s apartment. Leia and Han left as well, heading 

for Luke’s quarters. Han wanted to stay and talk to Jaina further but Leia convinced him otherwise and they left.

Now, Tahiri was alone with Jacen and she was beginning to worry. What if the prophecy was wrong? What if that someone new only meant a rebirth (Jacen’s resurrection). Tahiri had no idea what to think. She wanted to believe in a miracle that Jacen wouldn’t die but there was no way to guarantee…

Tahiri stopped in her tracks, tugging Jacen’s sleeve. He stopped, turning back to her. “What is it?”

She shrugged, leaning forward and whispered, “What’s happening to you, Jacen?”

Jacen frowned, crossing his arms, “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

“This prophecy, you possibly dying and Anakin’s essence extending to you – I’m not even sure I know what that means,” she cried.

Jacen huffed, as he hugged Tahiri holding her close. Tahiri cried, burying her face in his shoulder as she continued, “Nothing makes sense the way it’s supposed to and it scares me. I don’t want you to die even if it’s for the good of the universe. I know that’s selfish but it’s how I feel.”

He rubbed his thumb in a circular motion on her back, “Believe me, it’s not selfish. I want to live, too. I don’t want to lose you, Tahiri. The last thing I want is to cause you pain.”

Tahiri raised her hand and placed it over Jacen’s heart, “Then let’s make a vow. Right here, right now. To promise to always love one another ‘till the end of time and the life after. If one of us dies in the end, the other will wait until…whenever,”

He placed his hand over her heart, “I promise to love you forever until the end of time and the life after. And to wait for you, but I really hope I don’t have to wait if something happens.” Jacen smiled, bent down and kissed her. Tahiri laughed, kissing him back.

“Well, now that’s done I have to explain something to you.” Jacen stated, pulling her into his apartment and sitting her down on the couch. “One, Anakin’s life essence is so much more than you might think. I actually think I’m starting to think like he would.”

Tahiri scrunched her nose, raising her eyebrow, “Think like him? Is that even possible?”

Jacen shrugged, “I don’t know but there’s more. A while ago, when we were all together and I said, ‘I know’ I really did mean what I said. Tahiri, I know what I need to do to stop the Vong. I know because Anakin told me what I need to do.”

Tahiri smiled, feeling a little more uneasy than she had already felt. “Ok now this is getting really creepy! I mean, I know talking to dead people isn’t new (especially for the Jedi) but still…” Tahiri mumbled, then after taking some breaths, added, “What did he tell you?”

Jacen smiled, scratching his head, “Believe it or not, he told me I need to take control of a world ship and use it to destroy the entire Vong fleet.”

Tahiri shrugged, “That’s definitely, Anakin. Always thinking on a bigger scale. But there’s just one small problem with that plan.”

“What’s that?”

“The fact that’s its dangerous, stupid and a suicide mission! You wouldn’t even be able to get to the bridge, assuming those things have one. You would be killed on sight or tortured if discovered.” Tahiri reasoned.

“I know, I know. It’s a stupid idea but I think it’ll work. I know it'll work.”

She wasn’t convinced. Anakin felt he could destroy the voxyn queen without losing or someone getting hurt, and he ended up dying himself in the end. Now, Tahiri wasn’t even sure if it was Jacen talking or if Anakin was putting words in his mouth. Either way, he would end up dead, alongside his brother. “I’m not going to lie to you. I hate the idea but I won’t desert you. In fact, I want to be on your strike team. You are going to have a team, right?”

The Jedi smiled stupidly, “Of course, I will.”

Tahiri smiled, standing up, “No, you weren’t. Jacen Solo, you were planning on going by yourself. Without anyone to back you up – it’s suicide!”

“The key thing would be that you, Jaina and the others wouldn’t be killed. It wouldn’t be fair to you to cut your life short because of a failed plan.”

“And losing you is fair? This discussion is finished. I’m coming with you; Jaina’s coming with and so are whatever Jedi that decide they want to help, and do something.” Tahiri cried, “I won’t allow you to throw your life away for a stupid mission. If this one is going to count, we need to do it right.”

“I agree. So, how do we start?” Jacen asked.

Again, Tahiri huffed, “I thought you knew, genius? What? Anakin didn’t tell you where you could get a Vong world ship? Some help he is!”

“Yeah well, he only gave me directions on what needs to be done; not how to go about doing it.” Jacen replied, shrugging, “but I think we can figure it out.” He replied, grabbing Tahiri’s hand and running out of the apartment.

Tahiri huffed, “Now, where are we going?”

“To ask for a favor.” He replied, running towards Gavin’s quarters.

~~

Gavin Darklighter smiled, leaning back in his chair and resting his boots on his desk. There were very few times he had the luxury of relaxing. In fact, no one was able to relax or have pleasant dreams since the Vong war started, a war that seemed to be on the course of continuing for a long time...

"Colonel Darklighter?" a voice asked.

Gavin groaned, letting down his feet as Jacen and Tahiri entered. The Colonel immediately smiled, standing up and going around his desk to greet him. "Jacen, I heard you were back...I almost didn't believe it," he cried, glancing at Tahiri. "It's wonderful to have you home."

Jacen smiled, "Thank you, Colonel."

Darklighter gestured that they sat down as Gavin resumed his position behind his desk. "What can I do for you, Jacen?"

"A while back, do you remember that we caught a Coral Skipper?"

"Yes, but I thought we lost it," Gavin replied, eyeing Tahiri again, "What's going on?"

Tahiri glanced at Jacen, "Jacen is back from the dead because of Anakin, and now we have a plan to stop the Vong, for good."

Gavin 'hmm'd raising an eyebrow, "I'm listening."

Jacen leaned forward, "I was thinking I could pilot the Skip and use it to infiltrate a Vong world ship," He glanced at Tahiri, "I know it's crazy but I think it can work."

Gavin leaned back in his chair, scratching his chin. Infiltration? A Jedi tried to trick the Vong before and that rousé failed. If he allowed Jacen to go back, the same thing might happen. There had been many failed attempts to stop the Vong, but something told him this was the real deal. "If I allowed this plan to go forward, how would this plan proceed?"

Tahiri shrugged, "Take control of the world ship and destroy the fleet from within," she paused, looking at Jacen, "Since I have experience with the language, I can pilot it."

"We don't necessarily have to use a skip. Just a ship, unescorted through Vong space," Jacen replied, "It can even be a refugee hauler."

"It's risky and dangerous...The Vong, they seem to adapt, recovering their losses each time we strike," Gavin mumbled, really looking at Jacen and again, he had that strong feeling he could do it. Something told him he could do it; it could have been the Force or his conscience. It didn't matter; his answer would still be the same. Gavin huffed, "Yes, do it! Gather a strike team." He breathed, "Anything else you need?"

Jacen smiled lop-sided, "Yeah, could you ask Baron Fel if I could borrow his fleet as back-up?"

Gavin already started for the COM, glancing once at him, "I'll do better than that. You want a fleet? I can give you an armada - Hapan Battle Dragons, Chiss Phalanx, and of course, the Rogue Squadron."

"Perfect."

tbc


	11. Chapter 11

Tahiri frowned, swinging Jacen’s hand as the two of them stood in front of his apartment. He’d called Jag earlier, telling him the plan and to relay it to his father. The Rogue Squadron was already taken care of so there was no problem there. Now, he needed to ask a favor from the Hapan Queen, who happened to be an old friend, as well as an old flame.

Tenel Ka.

The last time he saw her, they almost kissed for the first and last time but Vergere broke them apart. Now, she was so much more out of reach than before. On Yavin, the two flirted with each other countless times. Now she was a Queen. Tenel Ka couldn’t afford to flirt with a ‘non-royal’.

But that small fact worried Tahiri. She knew the history between them. Everyone that went to the academy and were friends with them knew the history and connection. On their way over, Jacen tried to convince Tahiri the past was finished and it was highly unlikely things could happen between himself and Tenel Ka.

Jacen smiled, bending down and kissing her forehead, “I have to do this. I have to talk to her.”

“I know and I understand why…but it still feels weird. She was your first love. You dreamt about her every night…”

“Yes, but now all my dreams are of you,” Jacen replied, “I won’t be long. Promise.” Tahiri agreed as Jacen briefly kissed her forehead and then turned, entering his quarters.

More than anything, Jacen was dreading talking to Tenel Ka. The history and connection still bothered him, probably more so than Tahiri. But this was something he had to do. Jacen gasped, kneeling down in front of the COM station. He hesitated a moment, then reached up and entered his ID, connecting to Hapes. The Hapan Royal Seal appeared briefly on screen, then vanished and was replaced by Tenel Ka.

“Jacen, my friend, it is good to see you…alive. We all thought you were dead.” Tenel replied.

“I’m glad to be alive, too.” He huffed, scratching his neck, “Yeah, I need to ask you a really big favor. A really big one.”

Tenel shrugged, “What is it?”

“Rather than dance around the subject, I need your fleet.”

Tenel groaned, “Why?”

“It’s a complicated plan but the fleet will only be a back-up.” Jacen replied, “I wish I could tell you everything, but then you wouldn’t allow me access.”

“Fact.” She reasoned, “I can give you 40 Hapan Battle Dragons. But no more, I’m afraid. Some people are still angry about that failed attack, headed by your mother.”

“I understand. Thank you. Jag’s asking his father if he can borrow some ships; Gavin’s even volunteered the Rogue’s help.”

Tenel smiled, “Now that’s over, I want to tell you how happy I am you called. I heard you were back, but I was scared to call.” She paused, dropping her Queen façade, “I thought you were dead…we all did. Now, you’re back things are more complicated.”

“Yes, I know. You’re a Queen.” Jacen mumbled, “How’d that happen? Last I remember, Ta’Chume was Queen Mother, and your mother was…was…what happened?”

“Poison. She was already dying, but still…members of the court believe it was one of my grandmother’s spies, but nothing is definite.” Tenel gasped, “I was forced into this position, Jacen and you know, if I didn’t have to be here things would be different.”

“I know what you mean.”

“I have to go now and give the official order for the dispatch of your fleet. Where do you want them to rendezvous?”

“Borealis. But try to keep it quiet. We don’t want the Vong to realize something is up.” Jacen replied, “And Tenel Ka, thank you again.”

She smiled, “Anything to help an old friend.”

During their conversation, Jacen was reading Tenel Ka’s mind, using the Force. She had no idea about himself and Tahiri but she was genuinely concerned about him and wanted to help any way possible. Jacen was grateful for her help; it just felt wrong to lie to her. Lying was about all he had been doing since he returned. 

Jacen rose and walked to his door, palmed it and then walked away as Tahiri entered. “How’d it go? Did she agree to the plan?” Tahiri whispered, too timid to raise her voice any louder.

“Yes. As Queen, she has the ability to order a massive fleet and the Captain wouldn’t question her,” Jacen replied, “but I didn’t like lying to her.”

Tahiri rested her head on his right shoulder, “I know. In the beginning, I was more afraid how your family would react if they found out about us. Especially Jaina. I was scared what she would think of me.”

“It wasn’t right, Tahiri.” He mused, but rolled his eyes, “But we have forty Hapan Battle dragons, and a Chiss Phalanx if Jag can convince his father.”

Tahiri suddenly smiled, “He just called a while ago. We have a Chiss Phalanx, consisting of about twenty-thirty five pilots and the Rogue Squadron, but then Jag’s old squadron wanted some action, too. So now, added to the list – the Spike Squadron and the Wraiths. The Wraiths didn’t want the Rogues to take all the credit.”

Jacen laughed, “So, that’s five squadrons. Sithspit, we’re going to kick Vong ass!”

“I know. All those worlds that have been enslaved they can finally dream of tomorrow,” Tahiri cried, as Jacen turned to her, “And I know you’ll still be here.”

Jacen lightly caressed her cheek, “I hope I am. I’m not exactly ready to leave,” he smiled, kissing her hand. Tahiri smiled, kissing him back but the two were broken apart when Jacen’s COM went off again. “Yes?”

“It’s Wedge. We’re ready down here, and the Rogues are ready for their leader, and Jag got you a refugee barge with some NRI agents,” Wedge reported.

Tahiri kissed Jacen’s cheek before he answered, “Thanks, Wedge. Tahiri and I will be there in a minute.”

“Are you ready for this? To go back?” Tahiri asked, “I mean, you were, well, are you ready?”

“No, but if you’re with me I know I can face my fears and win.” Tahiri kissed his cheek again before turning and following Jacen to the bedroom to change.

~~

An hour later, Tahiri and Jacen stood in front of the Squadron bay, both dressed as refugees. Tahiri squeezed his hand as they entered the bay. The entire Rogue Squadron wore clean suits, polished boots and helmets and at the head was Wedge Antilles and Gavin Darklighter.

Wedge smiled, “Gavin told me about your plan. I have to say it’s dangerous and the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, but also courageous and honorable.”

“Thank you, Wedge,” Jacen replied, then glanced at Gavin, “Where’s my sister?”

“Right here, Jacen,” Jaina replied, rushing into the bay, followed by Jag and Kyp as her entourage. “Jag told me about your plan. Initially, I didn’t like it. Mainly because it’s suicide, but then I had this feeling you could pull it off.”

Gavin’s eyes shot up, staring at Jaina, pointing to her, “You had that feeling, too?”

“Yes, I did. Why, did you?”

“Yes. That’s why I volunteered for the squadron!”

Jacen smiled, resting his hand on Gavin’s shoulder, “Don’t worry. I’ll bring them home, Colonel.”

“Ahem!” a voice cried as Jacen and Tahiri turned, surprised to see Mara in a flight suit. She smiled mischievously, leaning on her right foot, “What? And you all thought you were going to leave me out of this because all of the sudden I’m a ‘mom’?”

“The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind,” Jacen turned to his aunt, asking, “Aunt Mara, would you like to come along on this mission?”

Mara smiled, “I would love to. Besides, who else is going to bail you out if this plan of yours fails?”

“I will.” Han replied, followed by Leia. “The Falcon still has it in her to withstand another dog-fight,” he paused, turning to her, “and with my lovely co-pilot, you have yourself a guard,”

Jacen smiled, glancing at Tahiri, “All right, anyone else who wants to volunteer to lend a hand, please step forward now.” As Kyp and Jag stepped forward, the bay doors opened and Lando appeared, Tendra close behind him. Jacen laughed, “And why are you here? To take bets?”

“No. Need an extra person on your crew to watch things?” Lando asked.

Tahiri smiled, “Yes, we do.”

“Now assuming everybody that needs or wants to be here is here, we can get started,” Jacen 

reasoned.

Wedge cleared his throat, leaning over and whispering to Jacen, “The Wraiths and Spike Squadron will be rendezvousing with us. The Hapan and Chiss fleet, too.”

“Good. But try to keep them spread out. We don’t want everyone in the same place at once,” Jacen replied, then raised his voice, “Our first stop will be Coruscant. I know it should be our last, but this is the way it’s supposed to be.”

“The refugee barge will consist of Tahiri, Jaina, Jag, Kyp and myself and other NRI volunteers,” he paused, “Once we enter Vong space, all COM’s go cold. I want no transmissions. If you need to communicate with each other, make sure the frequency is locked and secure. No open links.”

“Once our barge is captured by a world ship, no one attack.” Tahiri voiced, “You need to give us time to get to the bridge and take control from there. Then, we’ll signal you.”

“Everything else will be transmitted to you while we’re in hyperspace,” Jacen concluded, “And May the Force be with you.”

All the Squadron pilots raised their right hand and saluted Jacen before dispersing to their x-wings. Jacen smiled, couldn’t help feeling Anakin’s spirit somewhere, maybe in the speech he gave. He turned, feeling a hand on his shoulder and smiled, realizing it was Tahiri. “C’mon. We need to board the barge.”

Jacen leaned down and kissed her, smiling, “For luck.”

Tahiri smiled, kissing him back but more passionately than before. Some of the pilots even stopped, watching them and once Tahiri realized they had a crowd, she glared at the staring pilots and they returned to their duties. Jacen kissed her one last time before turning and looking for the barge. 

Tahiri stood there a moment and then looked up, “Anakin, if you’re watching, I really hope you know what your brother is going through. And what I’m going through.”

“Tahiri, you coming?” Jacen shouted back, running and catching up with him.

~~

Tahiri scanned the barge looking for Jacen. The inside actually looked bigger than the outside but it was perfect for a military operation like this one. The Vong wouldn’t even suspect there was a whole crew of NRI agents, waiting for the signal to take them out.

“Tahiri, up here!” Jacen called, waving his hand from the cockpit.

The blonde passed several NRI agents as well as some friends. Tahiri gasped, bending her head as she fitted herself through the arched door and sat beside Jacen. “Ever flew one of these?” Tahiri asked, gesturing to the controls.

“Not really. Dad and Jaina are the real pilots of the family. I was just checking the coordinates,” he mused, swinging his chair around, looking at Tahiri, “Everyone set back there?”

“Last time I checked, it looked like some agents were still packing stuff up, making sure things are secure.” She replied and then smiled, “Ya know, I’m really proud of you. What you’re doing, I know I told you it was stupid, still is but I believe in you. And because I believe in you, this plan better work.”

“It will. It has too. Otherwise if it doesn’t, Anakin’s gonna hear from me.”

Tahiri smiled, “He’ll hear from me, too!” She sighed, grasping his hand, “I really hope you know what you’re doing, Jacen. The last thing these people need is another big defeat, added to a long list of countless losses. They need hope.”

“I think we all need hope right now and a miracle,” Jacen added, bending his head and kissing’s Tahiri’s palm, “Like I said before, the last thing I want is to cause you pain. Either it’s a failed mission or this prophecy, you don’t deserve that pain.”

Tahiri smiled hopefully, removing her hand from his and instead, she touched her forehead to his and wept. Both sat there in silence, oblivious to the world around them. Jacen bent down, cupped her chin and kissed her. “I love you, baby.” He whispered between kisses.

Tahiri smiled, “I know. I love you, too.”

“Ahem.” The two turned, slowly moving away from each other as Jaina entered the pit. “We’re almost ready back here. Just give us a few minutes.”

Jacen smiled, “Thanks,” He nodded, gesturing to the third chair, “So, I take it this mission you’re a civilian?”

Jaina shrugged, sitting down, “Civilian now, but I can’t promise the whole Goddess stuff won’t be used.”

“That’s fair,” Tahiri mused.

“And Jag and Kyp? Are they still your personal servants?” Jacen joked.

Jaina laughed, “You think I’m enjoying this Goddess stuff?” Her twin looked at her honestly and she rolled her eyes, giving in, “I am enjoying this Goddess stuff. I have private quarters, a Queen sized bed and two willing servants.”

“Yeah, I bet Jag just loves taking orders from you. Wouldn’t want to offend her worshipfulness.” Jacen joked as Tahiri hit his arm.

Jaina raised an eyebrow, “I will admit being Goddess does have his perks – Jagged Fel being one of them. I talked to him before and I asked, `If we were successful, would he return to Chiss or stay with the Republic?”

“What did he say? Stay, I hope.” Jacen replied.

She shrugged, “He said he would love to stay but if his father calls him back, he has no choice but to leave. But long-distance relationships aren’t that bad.”

Jacen smiled hopefully, “Let’s hope not.”

“A Holovid there, and some exchanged messages and I think it would –.” Before she could complete her sentence, the COM’s suddenly went dead silent. It was almost an eerie feeling, a feeling that they were now on their own.

“I ordered for early COM silence. Just in case,” Jacen murmured.

Jaina faced her brother. “Then I guess I better go, make sure everything is good back there so we can finally get out of here, and I’ll call the two pilot volunteers.” Jaina smiled and left.

Once she was gone, Tahiri briefly kissed Jacen’s cheek then pulled away from him, “I’m going to go back too. Once you get set-up here, look for me.” He smiled, watching her leave.

tbc


	12. Chapter 12

Jag shifted his weight, adjusting his harness at the same time. Kyp Durron was also in the same position but was actually adjusting a whole lot better than he was, probably because Kyp didn’t have a beautiful woman standing so close to him.

For Jag, he wasn’t really paying attention to what else was going on around him, or even care about the mission. Jag gasped, looking at her, really looked at her. She wore a tight black jumpsuit, tall black boots and her hair, which was usually loose around her shoulders, was bound in a short braid. Her lightsaber hung from her left and on the opposite side, was a small blaster pistol.

Jaina Solo never really intended to be beautiful or sexy, it wasn’t her style but at that moment she was everything to Jag and more. And he felt really lucky to have the privilege to be harnessed next to her during the mission.

Jaina turned to him and smiled, “Got that harness adjusted okay?”

Jag smiled, “Yeah, I think I got it,” Jaina smiled and then turned her attention back to the crew, 

“Um Jaina, can I ask you something?” She turned to him again as he continued, “Um, I really don’t know how to say this – I’m not very good with expressing my feelings…”

“Jag, whatever it is – don’t worry. We’ll be coming back from this mission and you can tell me then,”

“No, I can’t wait. I have to tell you now. Jaina Solo, I love you and I was wondering…will you do the honor of being my wife?” Jag stated, looking directly at her. 

Jaina stared at him, taken aback. Of all the things, she certainly was not expecting Jag to ask that. 

“I know it’s a lot but I didn’t want to wait until later, especially if there is no later.” Jag murmured as Jaina suddenly grabbed him and kissed him passionately. When she pulled back, Jag had to gather his bearings, “So, is that a ‘yes’?”

Jaina smiled, kissing his cheek and whispered, “Affirmative,” she paused, standing close to him, 

“I would really love to celebrate, but we’re both kind of in a bind right now.”

Jag stared back at her in awe, “Um, later’s fine. When?” he croaked.

“My quarters, my room,” she purred.

“It’s fine with me,” Jag breathed, wrapping his arms around his waist even though the harness was keeping her in place.

~~

Jacen nearly bolted from his chair once he heard the alarms. His first instinct was to run to Tahiri, and make sure she was safe. But he knew she was safe. Jacen was so nervous, he raked a hand through his hair then clicked his COM, “Tahiri, is everything okay back there?”

_ ‘Everything’s fine, Jacen. The hauler door was just closing. We’re all set-up back here and ready to go.’ _

Jacen gasped, they were so close. If this plan failed, everyone would be devastated…that couldn’t happen. He doubled-clicked his COM, connecting to the rest of the Squadron, “Rogue Squadron, check-in.”

Wedge Antilles, _ ‘Gold leader checking in.” _

Gavin Darklighter, _ “Red leader checking in. All wings accounted for.’ _

Jacen glanced at Lando and Tendra in the co-pilot seats adjacent to him, “Maintain COM silence and keep your eyes open for the Wraiths and Spike Squadron,”

‘Will do, Jacen.’ Wedge replied, switching off.

Lando smiled as he watched Jacen check all controls, “I’m impressed. You really know what you’re doing.”

Jacen shrugged, looking at him, “Honestly, I don’t know a thing about flying. Dad and Jaina are the real pilots of the family.”

He laughed, “I didn’t mean flying. I mean you, Jacen. You’re different, more mature. This plan, I didn’t even think the great Han Solo would have thought of it,” then whispered, leaning over, “but don’t tell him I said that. He’d kill me.”

Tendra snickered, though she really wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. Jacen shrugged, “It wasn’t even my idea. It was Anakin’s ---.”

“It doesn’t matter. If this plan works, you’ll be known throughout the Galaxy as the boy that destroyed the Vong with a single blow. People will make holo stories of you, you’ll be famous!” Lando cried.

“And you want to be my agent? No thanks. I’m not doing this to be famous, Lando. I’m doing this to help people,” Jacen retorted, facing the controls again.

Lando shrugged, “Either way, whether you like it or not, it’s the way things are gonna be. A hero. The greatest hero and you’re not even twenty!”

Jacen laughed, “I don’t think age matters that much in ‘hero’ standards.”

  
  


“Oh, it does kid. It does.” Lando repeated, “Probably even if you failed, people would still love you because they believed in you.”

Jacen didn’t say anything except sit there a moment before re-checking his coordinates for Coruscant.

~~

Coruscant, or what used to be the capital of the Republic, a vibrant and rich planet was now turned into a Vong wasteland, a dried up dead planet overnight. The  _ Rebel Freedom _ , the newly christened hauler, came out of hyperspace an hour earlier than expected, careful not to pull out too close to the once thriving planet.

Jacen gasped, staring at it. He’d grown up there – him, Anakin and Jaina. He remembered getting lost in the streets with Jaina as kids and somehow surviving; the tall buildings that amazed him as a small boy and the overload of air traffic. Now, it was nothing.

When the Vong captured Coruscant, it was the most devastating blow to the few people that held hope. Coruscant was their last stronghold, their last stand. Now, it was up to Jacen to restore that hope.

He turned, sensing Tahiri enter. She had known they arrived earlier than expected but she didn’t want to disturb Jacen in case he was busy. Staring at Coruscant, now, she knew why Jacen, Lando and Tendra were sitting very still and why Tendra was sobbing. Tahiri knelt down, grasping Jacen’s sleeve, “What have they done? It looks so dead,” she cried, tears stinging her eyes.

“I don’t know,” he said, then cleared his throat, hitting the controls, “I ran a bioscan. There are life forms down there, believe it or not. Most of them are Vong, but a small percentage are slaves. It looks like they’ve turned one of the main buildings into a slave/labor factory. Maybe a headquarters, too.”

“We’re going to hit there first?” Lando asked.

Tahiri reasoned, “If someone notices we’re out here, we’ll probably end up there anyway.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Lando added, “No offense Jacen, but this idea of yours…I don’t know. I have my doubts.”

Jacen shrugged, looking out the view port again. Only this time, three coral skippers were escorting a larger Vong ship. It was too small to be a mother ship, so he knew it had to be an advanced skip or something.

“It’s not too late to retreat, Jacen,” Lando reminded him.

  
  


Jacen moved the hauler and docked with the ship, “We’re not retreating. Too many people are depending on this.”

~~

Tahiri breathed, running to the back of the hauler and by the time she entered the main area, everyone was gone, hidden away in the tiles beneath. Hiding with them were weapons embedded in the walls, under more steel plates. She reached down into her cloak, grabbing her breather and placed it snugly over her mouth, covering the lower half of her face. And to complete the ensemble, a large gray hooded cloak draped around her face and back. She reached down into her pocket, pulling out blue contact lenses and placed them carefully into her green eyes. Her lightsaber clung to her thigh, layered under a tunic.

“Tahiri?” Jacen asked, confronting her with Tendra behind him. Of all of them, Jacen was the only one that hadn’t gone through the most drastic change – just hair color change. Tendra donned a cape and robe like Tahiri. “Lando’s gonna be staying here, in case there’s an emergency. Someone needs to watch the hauler.”

“Sure they won’t recognize you with only black hair?”

Jacen shrugged, “Blue eyes, too. I know it’s risky…” Tahiri stepped to him, placing her forefinger on his lips and he smiled, “Let’s get this mission started then.”

Not too long after he said that, seven Vong warriors pushed open the large door and five more boarded the hauler. They parted briefly as a tall, slender Vong female entered. Jacen frowned, glancing at Tahiri. As far as he could remember, there was no female Vong leader, or one that held power. Something was up.

She paused, standing in front of Jacen, “Refugees?” she asked.

“We’re from Dantooine, drifters.” Jacen answered. She ‘hmm’d’, glancing back at the warriors behind her as Jacen continued, “We have names…”

“I don’t care about your names, weakling!” she yelled, “To me, you are nothing. Below the Vong, below the slaves, below the Warmaster himself.” She glanced at Tahiri, “I am Lady Serleena and the three of you are now my slaves, my personal servants.”

~~

Tahiri wrinkled her nose as she walked through the Vong factory. Not only was it filled with slaves, working fields of lambents, but it also smelled of sweat and blood. She was willing to bet that several slaves had revolted while they were working and the Vong had ‘put’ them down. Tahiri breathed slowly as she walked through the fields but stopped when she felt a young woman pull on her pants. “You are the one, the one that was shaped?” she cried, staring into her eyes.

Tahiri gulped, looking back at Tendra who only glanced at their watcher. He was talking to another Vong, probably about the slaves' work. Tahiri knelt down, taking her hand, “I am and we’re here to help. Wurth Skidder, do you remember him? He was like me – a Jedi. You’re not going to be a slave, anymore. I promise.”

Tendra bent down, whispering to him, “Tahiri, the watcher’s gone off with the other Vong seer. But he’ll be back, most likely. He’s probably gone to see Lady Serleena.”

The female slave immediately went back to work, ignoring them. Tahiri frowned, looking at Tendra and shrugged. Tahiri huffed, tapping the woman’s shoulder and smiled, “Um, you’ve heard of Serleena. Who is she?”

The woman looked around, hopeful no one else was watching and then continued, “She’s the Warmasters’ mistress. She’s very dangerous and very cruel. If she is the one that captured you, I pray you can escape her. If you can’t, you’re in for a lifetime of torture and despair.” She paused, lowering her voice. “Humans fascinate her for some reason. The Warmaster is disgusted with her ways but he doesn’t object when she tortures the slaves.”

Tahiri gulped, “Tortures the slaves? How?”

“You don’t want to know.” She only replied, returning to her work.

Tahiri stood up, looking at Tendra, “Jacen’s alone in her quarters. If what this woman says is 

true, he’s in a whole lot of trouble.”

~~

Jacen stood alone in Serleena's quarters. He really didn’t like the idea of being separated from Tahiri but if their plan was going to work maybe this was the path. He paced about the quarters, feeling even more nervous. What was he doing there? More importantly, what was going to happen once Serleena came back? The last time he was captured, as far as he knew, no female Vong ever held a high social status like Serleena. Still, maybe things have changed since then…

He turned, hearing footsteps outside. Jacen gulped as Serleena walked in, wearing a masquer and a tight black long dress. She smiled devilishly at Jacen, pacing about the room, “Comfortable, slave?”

“Oh, boy!” Jacen cried.

Serleena smiled wickedly, walking towards him, “You humans, always dressing for the wrong occasion,”

“Occasion? What occasion?” he cried as Serleena moved forward, almost on top of him.

“Do you know who I am, slave? I’m the Warmasters mistress. But he’s been very busy lately, conquering worlds and enslaving your people.” She mused, “I hardly see him anymore. It’s very sad.”

Jacen smiled wishfully, “Um well, the whole situation is very sad. What your people are doing to my people.”

Serleena frowned, “I don’t care how badly your species is hurt in the process or the cost of damage, as long as I have a slave for myself. A personal slave.”

Jacen stepped away, realizing her meaning. “I’m sorry, m’lady but I must decline. Believe me, the last thing I want is to become another name on the Warmasters ‘must kill’ list.”

Suddenly, she smiled laughing, “You’re a funny one. I like that. I like you – I’m not sure why, but humans just fascinate me. They intrigue me.”

Jacen reached for his lightsaber. His hands drifted over it slightly, not really wanting to kill Serleena. She was the Warmasters’ mistress. If she was suddenly found dead in her private chambers and the Warmaster found out, the price on his head would be a whole lot more than it originally was. “M’lady, I think I will retire for the night.”

As he started for the door, Serleena grabbed his tunic, twirling him around. Subconsciously, she reached down into his tunic and pulled his lightsaber. Serleena started it for a moment, still holding Jacen by his wrist. “Hmm. Well, I think I know why I found you so fascinating.”

“M’lady…” he started, but Serleena only covered his mouth with her right hand.

“Sssh, Jedi.” She purred, licking the side of his face, “I like Jedi. There’s no need to worry. Not yet, anyway,” and walked away, “You came here with others. The two women. What were your plans?”

Jacen shrugged, “Why should I tell you? You’d just tell the Warmaster and he would kill me, anyway.” Then she turned him again, glaring, “Or, maybe you would.”

Suddenly Serleena laughed, crossing her arms, “Despite popular belief, I actually do like Jedi. And humans. And I maybe willing to help you, if you tell me what your plan is.” Jacen didn’t say anything, except stare back at her. “You want proof I won’t betray you? If I had been a normal female Vong, you would have been dead by now. You’re still alive and you still have your legs, and whatever human anatomy would have been sliced off or burned.”

“Sliced off or burned?” he cried, his face going white.

Serleena leaned forward, smirking, “I’m kidding. Now, your plans. You must have had a plan.”

Jacen shrugged, “I do…You’re the Warmasters’ mistress. You have access around this base?”

“Of course, I do. It’s one of the perks of being the Warmasters’ mistress. And I have a mother ship under my command –“ she mused, as she noticed Jacen’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise, “And that’s what you were after. A mother ship. I can grant you access to the ship and your men, assuming you have some volunteers run the whole thing.”

He smiled stupidly, “Generally speaking, that was the idea. You’ll grant me access then?”

Serleena huffed, “The only way you’d be able to board the ship is if you’re a slave and I’m going somewhere off world. Your friends could come as well. I could order that they have to escort me.” Serleena frowned, looking at him again, “It will be done.”

~~

Jaina Solo grunted, squeezed between Jag and other pilot in an almost uncomfortable position. Like everyone else, she was forced to wait for Jacen to make his move. But Jaina hated waiting, especially when she didn’t know what was going on. Sensing her harsh mood, Jag began to massage her shoulders. Jaina smiled a bit, leaning back on him, “You could feel I needed a massage?”

Jag shrugged, “Aside from the fact that you’ve been very quiet since Jacen was ‘captured’ and that this mission means so much, I figured you needed a break.”

“It just really bothers me. I hate sitting around and doing nothing,” she cried, “And being cramped at the same time doesn’t really help either.”

Jag kissed her right shoulder, “I know but we really can’t do anything until the Wraiths, Hapan fleet or Rogue Squadron show up.” Before Jaina could object to that, Lando began opening the plates.

“Lando, what’s going on?” Jaina asked as he helped her out, followed by Jag.

He shrugged, “The Wraiths are on their way, along with some Hapan Battle Dragons.” Lando paused, turning to Jag, “I’m sorry Jag, your father pulled out at the last minute. I guess he figured we had enough firepower.”

Jag looked at Jaina. She squeezed Jag’s shoulder then turned back to Lando. “How long before the Wraiths get here?” Jaina asked.

“I don’t know but they shouldn’t be long.” He reasoned.

“We need to create a perimeter around Coruscant once everyone gets here. No one leaves the planet, not one coral skipper can get through. The only person that should be allowed to leave should be Jacen and the others aboard that world ship.” Jaina ordered.

~~

Tahiri continued digging through the soil for lambents, barely even paying attention to the arrival of Serleena and her slave. Tendra cleared her throat, directing Tahiri’s attention to Jacen. Serleena was talking to an overseer and was then directed to Tahiri and Tendra. Jacen stood behind her, his hood covering his face. The two women stood up as they confronted Jacen and Serleena. “You are my slaves, and as your master, I am taking you off world.” She then turned to Jacen, “Take them.”

Jacen stepped forward and grabbed Tahiri by the wrists. She was bound to struggle but Jacen winked at her, smiling and she calmed down. Tendra obediently followed in their wake, hanging her head low. Once they were a safe distance away, Serleena faced Tendra and Tahiri. “You know who I am,” she stated, though it wasn’t meant as a question, “but I’m going to help you. I have a world ship, which I believe you came here to steal. It’s under my command but I relinquish my command to you.”

Tahiri smiled, speaking in Vong, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Serleena turned to Jacen, “We must hurry and get to my ship. I know a shortcut. Follow me.”

~~

Tahiri scowled, watching Jacen willingly follow Serleena. Despite the fact that she gave her permission to command her ship and was helping them, something about Serleena bothered her. The way the female slave talked about her – it gave Tahiri the impression she was a very dangerous woman.

She ran faster, tugging Jacen’s sleeve, pulling him back. Still focused on Serleena, Tahiri opened up her mind to him. Jacen kept his gaze on Serleena, breathing slowly, What is it, baby?

Tahiri nodded to Serleena, I don’t trust her, Jacen. Do you even know who she is? She’s the Warmasters’ mistress! Even that small detail should have been a warning. She cried.

Jacen frowned, lowering his gaze, I don’t trust her either and I know who she is and what could happen if she betrays us – but I haven’t sensed any evil intentions towards us.

Of course you wouldn’t. We can’t read Vong through the Force, remember? Tahiri huffed looking at him, reading his thoughts and emotions. Suddenly, her eyes widened and her mouth made a large O-shape. She tried to seduce you…she wanted to use you as her personal slave…

Before she could continue, Jacen kissed Tahiri, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. While he was hugging her, Jacen whispered to her, “Serleena figured out I was a Jedi before she could even get very far. Nothing happened, but she demanded to know my plan and offered to help.”

She smiled partially, kissing his cheek and whispered back, “That’s somewhat comforting, but I still don’t trust her.”

He kissed her forehead, replying mentally, _ ‘Neither do I. We both need to keep an eye on her.  _

_ She can’t be left alone for a minute…even on her own ship.’ _

‘Agreed,’ she concluded, taking Jacen’s hand and following Tendra and Serleena. 

tbc


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're almost to the end of the story, but not to worry, I've already edited the two sequels after this. There is a definite conclusion.

Jaina Solo huffed, sitting in the pilot’s chair as she stared out of the cockpit’s view port. Lando reported that the Rogues and Wraith squadrons were on their way, but now she was beginning to worry. Traveling through Vong space was very dangerous. What if they were in a dogfight with a couple of skips…

“Mind if I join you?” a voice asked.

Jaina jumped, turning around and abruptly facing Jag. She smiled okay, feeling less tense than before as he settled down in the chair next to her. Jaina smiled at him a little longer than stared back at the stars.

“They’re on their way, so you don’t have to worry,” Jag stated, staring at the stars as well.

Her eyebrow’s furrowed, scowling, “I really hate it when you do that.”

Jag turned, looking at her, “Do what?”

“Act like you know what I’m thinking about. You’re not even a Jedi but you know when something’s bothering me,” she mused and then laughed, “I hate that.”

Jag only shrugged, “I don’t need Force powers to know what you’re thinking, Jaina. Your mood and actions tell me everything, especially your eyes,” he reasoned and then smiled at her, “So what’s bothering you?”

Jaina laughed, “I thought you knew?” Jag laughed himself but calmed down as she continued, 

“How long have we been waiting for the Wraiths and Rogues?”

He shrugged, “Less than an hour. Don’t worry. They’ll be here,” A moment later, the COM crackled with static. Jag leaned over, adjusting the frequency as Jaina sat back, watching him. 

“Yes?”

Rogues and Wraiths Squadron reporting in. Hope you all didn’t get started without us. Wedge answered.

Jaina leaned over the COM, glancing at Jag, “You’re right on time, Wedge. Any longer and I would have taken off and looked for you all myself. Jacen? Is he there with you?

Jaina frowned, “Um no. He’s not. He’s on the planet with Tahiri and Tendra, securing a mother ship.”

‘Well, it looks like he got one,’ he cried, as Jag and Jaina stumbled about the cockpit, searching for Jacen.

Jaina’s breath caught in her throat as she stared at the massive mothership, coming from the left aft. She had never seen a world ship this close before, mostly because she was probably running in the opposite direction. Still staring, Jaina tugged Jag’s arm, directing his attention to her left.

“Sithspawn!” he cried, and then looked at Jaina, “Your brother is crazy.”

Jaina only chuckled, “They both are.” Immediately after that, Jaina connected to the mothership, “Jacen, Tahiri? Anyone there?”

“I’m here, Jaina,” her brother replied, “And I saw the squadron.”

“Good. I’ll meet you on the mothership,” she started, darting from her position and running to the back of the hauler.

‘Wait a minute, Jaina! Jaina!’ Jacen cried, but it was too late. She had already left the cockpit.

Jag picked up the COM, “She’ll get back to you,” and cut off the transmission.

~~

Jag ran back, searching the bay for Jaina. She was removing her jumpsuit and getting into a Rogue flight suit. He knew she hated lounging around and doing nothing, her blood was dying to act. “Jaina, what are you doing?” he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

She shrugged, “Before coming along, I asked Wedge if he could tow along an extra X-wing. He’s waiting for me now.”

Jag blinked in disbelief, though he wasn’t really that surprised. “And what are Kyp and I supposed to do?”

“Join Jacen and Tahiri on board the mothership.” She replied and then huffed, “Look, if I had told you about this from the beginning, you would have demanded to be my co-pilot.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” he choked, “I fly just as good as you.”

Jaina rolled her eyes, “I didn’t mean it that way. I meant…my attention would be divided between the battle and worrying about you. I need to be focused. Besides, you’ll be safe on the mother ship with Jacen. He could use a pilot with good skills.”

Jag huffed. He knew she was right but he didn’t want to admit it and Jaina knew it. She turned, removing the tile from the floor, connecting to the x-wing that was situated underneath the hauler. She turned back to Jag, kissing his cheek, “Hey, we’ll be married when this mission is finished, then you can order me around as much as you want.”

He laughed, “Yeah, but will you listen?” Jag smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist but she was already gone.

He huffed again, walking back to the cockpit but stopped when Jaina popped her head from underneath the tile. “Fel, are you coming or are you staying?”

Jag smiled, kneeling down and joining Jaina in the x-wing. Once he was situated, Jaina cleared her throat, “You’re still going to the mothership. You’re not staying with me.”

“I didn’t expect to.” He joked, as Jaina only rolled her eyes, pulling away from the hauler and joining up with the rest of the Rogues.

~~

Tahiri bit her lip as she slid on the tyzowyrm that controlled the living ship. She had done this before to escape, but this time was different. Anakin was with her then and now, Jacen took his place by her side. Tahiri waved her hand over some controls and a 3-D layout of the ship appeared.

Jacen scratched his chin, looking over the layout, “We need a large crew.”

“No, we don’t. There have been advances to the ship. Mechanical advances.” Tahiri mused, as Jacen turned to Serleena.

Serleena only shrugged, “It’s my ship. I can do whatever I want with it.”

“But the Warmaster gave it to you. Weren’t you scared? I mean, he must have come up a few times to look things over,” Jacen reasoned.

Serleena looked away, “The Warmaster trusts me. He never once said he would do weakly visitations,” she paused, “A cloaker, and automatic voice controls were the only modifications I added. As well as a device that gives off a false signature, in case I were followed. It’s useful for outrunning a squadron of fighters. Plot a false course and they’re dead, drifting in space.”

Jacen looked at Tahiri and shrugged, “Nice. I’m impressed.”

Tahiri snickered, turning off the display, “Jacen, I’m all set up here.”

“Good. We need to get their attention,” he mused, “Rogue and Wraiths squadrons in place?”

“Yes,” she replied, her face hardening.

Jacen smiled, “Fire.”

A bolt of purple light shot through space, falling to the planet. Jacen and Tahiri were still as they watched and waited. Finally, Tahiri broke her gaze away from the view screen, “Let’s just hope that gets their attention. If it doesn’t, we’ll have to think about a plan B.”

“I don’t think plan B will be used. Coral skippers at 2:00!” Jacen cried, slapping the COM on his chest, “Rogues and Wraiths stand by.”

~~

Jaina grumbled, flipping several switches at once. She didn’t even have the chance to drop off Jag. It looked like he would have to stay and act as her wingman. She grumbled again, as Wedge’s voice came over the COM, ‘Ready Jaina?’

“We’re both ready, Wedge. Jag’s going to act as my wingman,” she replied, giving him some control.

Wedge was silent a moment before replying, May the Force be with the both of you.

Jaina smiled, “Thank you,” clicking off the COM. She was quiet again, collecting her herself then returned her attention to the controls, “Jag, make yourself useful. You’re my wingman.”

“Yes ma'am!” he replied.

~~

Wedge huffed, checking his controls. Earlier, Jaina asked him if she could borrow an x-wing. He hesitated at first. It wasn’t that she wasn’t a good pilot, she was one of the best…it was just that he wasn’t quite sure how to act in the cockpit. Months earlier, she’d lost both her brothers and now one of them was back – would she still seek revenge?

It worried Wedge even more that Jag was with her after she’d reassured him he wouldn’t be coming along with her. They both agreed he was a liability, someone else to worry about. But they were a good team and very flirtatious at times…

Yes, he had noticed the closeness between them. He also knew that earlier on in the war, Jag had a crush on her and had the greatest respect for her as a pilot, as well as being a Jedi.

And, they were a good match.

Wedge glanced out his window. Thus far, it looked like the mother ship was able to take care of the skips. But he still wandered about the rest of the fleet.

‘Jacen, how are you doing?’

‘Worried about the fleet? You would think we would have had bigger Vong ships to deal with’. He mumbled, then backed away from the COM unit, talking to Tahiri.

‘They’re here! Get ready!’ He cried, shutting off the COM.

Wedge flipped some more switches, connecting to the rest of the Rogues. “Rogues, ready attack positions. Sticks, stay with me.”

‘Stay with you? Wedge, I need room!’ Jaina complained.

“I know you do, Jaina but I want you safe. Someone needs to watch you. I have Jag; I’ll be fine. I promise I won’t stray too far.’ she managed.

Wedge huffed, “You’d better not. Your parents would kill me if something happened to you, and I would kill you if something happened to Jag.”

~~

Gavin Darklighter grumbled as he dodged three more shots. He switched to quad lasers, grabbing two more x-wings for back up as he made another run into ‘the hive’, as he had dubbed it. Two skips followed firing furiously at him, determined to get him out of the battle. The two other x-wings were able to dodge a couple shots, but Gavin knew he couldn’t run forever. He had to find a place to ‘drop’ the skips.

Run into something and watch them explode was more like it, he thought. Then he noticed a narrow path between some of the semi-larger ships. Gavin smiled devilishly, flying between the ships. Once he was far enough, he suddenly veered off. The x-wings behind him followed, breaking away as the other two skips collided with two of the ships.

“Alright Jacen, they’re all yours.”

~~

On board the mothership, Jacen clicked his COM, standing close to Tahiri. She had already powered up the weapons, in case the Rogues needed help but hadn’t fired them. Jacen huffed, leaning towards Tahiri, “On my mark, fire all immediate weapons. Target the bigger ships.”

Tahiri relayed the order to the ship. After firing, she checked the enemy ships’ vitals. 

“It’s injured. Should I order the Wraiths and Rogues to finish them off.”

“Finish them!” he stated, but before Tahiri could carry out that order, she spotted 24 Hapan Battle Dragons, accompanied by the Millennium Falcon.

‘Jacen, son, are you there?’ Han asked.

Jacen’s lips parted slightly as he looked back at Tahiri. She was still focused on the battle, maneuvering the ship out of harms’ way. He leaned over again, “Can you cloak the ship and still attack?”

Tahiri focused on the screen, “It can, but you’ll have to ask Serleena about how long it can stay cloaked.”

Solo grunted, turning to the female Vong. The last thing he wanted to do was give Serleena more power; Tahiri knew it too. Serleena sighed, “The ship can stay cloaked for 13 ½ hours, but after that it will automatically de-cloak. And yes, you can use the weapons while cloaked.”

Jacen faced Tahiri again, “Do it, baby. Cloak the mother ship.”

Tahiri waved her hand over a control, cloaking the entire ship. Once they were invisible, Jacen ordered Tahiri to open a channel to all their fleet. “No need to panic everyone. I’m still around, just cloaked. We’re going to play a game called hide and seek.”

‘Copy.’ Wedge replied, And May the Force be with you.

“Hide and seek. Hunt the hunted, without the hunted really knowing the hunter or where the hunter is located,” Tahiri mused and then smiled, “I like it.”

Jacen scratched his chin, “Let’s just hope it works. Tell the Rogues and Wraiths to spread out, as well as the Hapan Fleet. Make the Vong confused.” Tahiri copied relaying the message as 

Jacen concluded, “Then let’s play.”

~~

Hero (CH33)

By Obi’s Girl

The Warmaster stalked towards the bridge of his ship. He had been away on another mission when he was told that his mistress had taken her personal ship and given over command to Jeedi! 

He knew Serleena had an unusual affinity towards the Jedi, but he never thought she would betray her own people and help them. He growled again, stopping abruptly in front of the bridge door. The two guards moved aside as he entered, standing tall on the bridge.

His lieutenant, Yoman Kralik saw him, and stood up from his position, at a pilot’s station. The Warmaster stalked over to him, ignoring the rest of his crew. “Have you located the missing mother ship, lieutenant?”

Kralik glanced at the rest of the crew before answering, “No sir. She’s cloaked, undetectable. But we are splitting our resources, looking for the ship as well as dealing with the enemy fleet.”

The Warmaster suddenly glared at him, showing off his teeth, “Do you think I care about the fleet? The Jeedi now have in their possession a prototype mother ship, our most valuable weapon. And Serleena has betrayed us, and she will be severely punished if she is captured. But I want that ship back, lieutenant!”

“Yes sir!” Kralik answered, as he stormed away again and Kralik relaxed. Kralik turned to the pilot on duty, “Do a bio scan on every inch of this area. Report back to me once you have located the ship’s signature.”

“But sir, the ship also has a false signature doesn’t it? How will I know if it’s the correct one?”

Kralik huffed, “Use weapons if necessary. Weapons should puncture the cloak.”

~~

Jaina Solo moaned, hurtling through gaps as a couple skips tailed her. She put her x-wing in another rotational roll and faintly, he could hear Jag moan behind her. She mentally scolded herself. She had to remember to be slow on the rollovers, even though it helped confuse the Vong and occasionally cause the skips to blow up.

“Oops, sorry honey. Are you okay?” she cried, her eyes darting from her window to the back, even though she couldn’t see him.

Jag waved his hand, “I think I’m going to take a week and rest, once we get back.”

“I’m really sorry, honey.” she apologized again. Then she was distracted again, once a couple more skips replaced the ones that were following her. “Oh, Jag hang on! Here we go again!”

“I just wish I had gone with Jacen and Tahiri.” He mumbled before powering up the lasers again, and returned fire.

~~

Wes Janson smiled, carelessly cutting between all the skips and smiled, every time one of them tried to follow but smashed into another skip and exploded. He just loved seeing things go ‘boom’, which was the Wraiths specialty. Jaina rolled her eyes, flying past Wes and gave him an exasperated look and then continued on, firing shots at more skips. Wes ignored her, putting his x-wing in a spin, almost as if it was plummeting towards the planet.

Many of the skips stayed away, but others weren’t so smart and got in his way and exploded upon impact. He grinned, switching to his lasers, “Time for fire practice!”

‘Janson, stop playing around!’ Garick’s voice crackled over his COM. ‘Your maneuvers are going to get us all killed.’

“Sorry, Garik. Hey, do you need back up?” Wes asked, gazing out his view port at Garick’s 

x-wing.

Garik broke away, ‘Just don’t do anything stupid, Janson! We all want to live through this, so we can gather in the lounge, get drunk and tell ‘our version’ of how this battle played out.’

Wes saluted him, “Yes sir!” and broke away, doing some more rollovers and firing at the same time.

Garik only moaned, thinking, ‘Maybe I should have invited him as my back-up. I could keep an eye on him.’ and firing on some skips.

~~

Tenel Ka clutched the arms rests of her chair, commanding the  _ Iron Claw, _ the lead Hapan Battle Dragon. As Queen, all 24-battle Dragons were under her command. Many of the captains, however, were doubtful. In the past, the alien invaders had been able to successfully destroy half of their fleet and it soured the mood even more that a Jedi was the one who was commanding them. A Jedi had been responsible for commanding that terrible attack on the fleet, and it was even more ironic that the son of the one, who failed, was the one who lead them now in this battle.

"Oh, friend Jacen, you better know what you're doing." she mumbled, then glanced at pilots in front of her, "Have you located him, yet?"

"No, ma'am, but we're still looking."

Tenel waved them off as she stood up, walking about the bridge. She stopped pacing, standing in front of the screen of stars. Several of the pilots were alarmed, but made no move to ask her if she was all right. Tenel Ka closed her eyes, breathing slowly as she searched via the Force for Jacen. The Dathomerian Queen was guided in several directions before resting on a spot, set between the planet and several squadron fighters.

Tenel Ka dove deeper into the Force, walking down the corridors of the mother ship. She stopped briefly, standing in front of the bridge door. Tenel Ka raised her hand, resting it on the door and then pulled back suddenly, returning to herself.

The Jedi gasped, opening her eyes and looking around. Several of the pilots on the bridge were staring at her, all very concerned and worried. She looked down, noticing her hand was extended to the screen, pointing in the same direction of her vision.

"Captain, scan the quadrant closest to the planet for any false signatures," she ordered, walking quietly back to her seat.

The female captain scanned the requested area. As she scanned, a smile formed briefly on her lips, "You were right, highness. I detect a false signature closest to the planet."

"Monitor that signature." Tenel ordered, "And remain in position."

"We're not going to attack?" an ensign asked, but wasn't scolded.

"We do not need enemy ships slipping through and running away, calling for reinforcements," Tenel Ka reasoned, "I suspect that is why Jacen asked for my help. Maintain a perimeter. Any ships that try to break through, fire at them...enemy ships."

"Yes, ma'am."

~~

"What do you mean the Hapan Battle Dragons are stationary? Don't the Hapens understand we need their help!?" Jacen yelled, staring at the screen.

Tahiri only shrugged, "They're helping. They've created a perimeter."

"Never mind." Jacen mumbled, returning to his seat.

Tahiri only giggled, then quieted down when he glared at her. "We're not doing that badly, though."

"No, we're not. But it's still early in the game."

"What do you want to do then?" Tahiri asked as she maneuvered the mother ship away from the planet.

Jacen slapped his hand on his face, rubbing his chin, "The hauler. Command the crew to land on the planet and free the slaves," he mused.

Serleena looked at Jacen and then glanced at Tahiri. She had thought long and hard and in the end it was a much better solution then going back to the Vong. "Jeedi, may I speak with you?"

Jacen looked at her and then nodded, "What is it?"

Serleena gazed at Tahiri again before continuing, "It's a very important matter. Obviously, I cannot return to my people - they'd execute me if I do...What I'm requesting is sanctuary from the 3rd New Republic."

Tahiri's eyes widened as she turned, staring at both of them. Tahiri knew from the start Serleena was bad news and now she knew why she didn't trust her.

"Sanctuary?" Jacen echoed, "I can't grant you sanctuary; I don't even think the Republic would."

Serleena laughed, "I don't have to live in the Republic..."

"That's right! You can rot in a jail cell, as a prisoner of war!" Tahiri shouted and then looked at Jacen, "You can't offer her sanctuary, Jacen. Do you think any human or alien will trust a Vong to stay in their world? She'd just guarantee another invasion."

"I agree. It would be too risky. Sorry, Serleena. You can't return with us."

She only laughed again, "What are you going to do with me, then? Throw me out an airlock?"

Tahiri's eyes narrowed, as she smiled devilishly, "I'd volunteer to kick you out."

"ENOUGH!" Jacen shouted, "We can talk about this later. Now, we need to focus." Tahiri frowned, looking down as he continued, "What are our stats?"

"Knocked down 20-25 coral skippers. Some of the larger ships are contemplating surrender," she stopped, looking back at the screen and pointed to one ship in particular, "That one there hasn't moved an inch since the battle first started."

"That's the Warmasters' personal ship." Serleena stated.

Jacen turned to her, "You know why he's not moving?"

Serleena's eyes narrowed, "I do. This ship is a prototype, and he wants it back."

tbc


	14. Chapter 14

Jacen grabbed his lightsaber and ignited it, sliding it under her throat. "Alright Serleena, start talking." Tahiri smiled, crossing her arms as she looked back at the Vong female.

"A while back, a group of top Vong leaders came together discussing the development of a prototype mother ship. I was one of the top leaders involved. However, most of the males didn't really like that I had that much power, but I pleaded that the Warmaster himself appointed me."

Tahiri raised an eyebrow, glancing at Jacen, "Did he?"

"By that time, I was beginning to accumulate a lot of power since I was in favor with the Warmaster. So yes, he did allow me to represent him," Serleena reasoned, "But soon I was the only one on the project, and once the Warmaster realized this he took over the project, seizing the layout of the ship."

Jacen glanced at Tahiri, "So you helped us steal this ship to get back what's rightfully yours? Newsflash, m’lady. I can guarantee after we return to our base, scientists will research this ship and its protection will become the military's responsibility. And you will become a prisoner of war, 'cause you're not getting a sympathy vote from either of us and if you ask one more time for sanctuary, I will personally throw you out of that airlock my counterpart spoke so fondly of."

Serleena smiled quaintly, "Sorry Jedi. I will not cause anymore trouble."

"You certainly won't. Baby, is there a cell lock somewhere on the ship for prisoners?"

Tahiri twirled around in her chair, checking the ships' layout, "Yes, there is. Two levels up, northwest corridor."

"Thank you. Stay here. I'll take care of our prisoner." Jacen growled, grabbing Serleena's arms and pushing her off the bridge.

Tahiri grabbed a pair of cuffs from her belt and threw them to him. "In case she tries anything."

Jacen thanked before pushing her into the hallway and undoing the cuffs, placing them on her wrists. He shut down his lightsaber and attached it to his belt; removing a small gun from the opposite side of his belt and pointed it at her, "Move."

~~

Serleena glanced at Jacen as she walked towards the cellblock. She thought maybe Jacen would vouch for her but she was wrong. Now, she was a prisoner on her own ship. Serleena stopped, gesturing to the cellblock. 

"Is this really necessary? I could be of use to you...we could be great allies together," she mused, stepping close to the cell. Jacen only rolled his eyes, shutting the door as she cried, "You're passing up the chance of a lifetime, Jeedi."

"No, I'm not,”he retorted, returning to the bridge.

~~

The Warmaster growled, impatiently tapping his fingers on his armchair. Upon arrival, he was told that the prototype ship had vanished, but now a majority of his fleet was destroyed and many of the commanders had surrendered. The Warmaster rolled his eyes as Kralik approached him, "Yes?"

"M’lord, we are still searching for the prototype, but I'm afraid the Jeedi have overwhelmed the fleet," Kralik reported and then bravely added, "May I suggest a cease-fire?"

The Warmasters eyes burned, glaring at Kralik. No Vong superior had ever retreated from battle and he certainly wasn't without a fight, "We're not leaving, Kralik. We may have lost the fleet, but we are not leaving,"

"But m’lord, the Jeedi have captured the planet," Kralik added, "The slaves have revolted and the infidel's soldiers have assisted them, giving them weapons to fight. There is nothing left for us here, m’lord."

"The prototype?" he asked.

Kralik lowered his head, "Since the Jeedi have it under their control, many on board have it deemed it 'irreversibly contaminated' and not worth salvation."

The Warmaster mumbled some curse words in Vong. He had lost most of his fleet and now, his own crew was abandoning the prototype, their only chance to destroy the Jeedi. "I refuse to accept defeat, but it seems we have lost favor with the gods," the Warmaster reasoned, then glared at Kralik, "Ask them what are their demands."

Kralik hesitated, and then scurried off. A moment later, he was able to make contact with one of the enemy ships. "M’lord, I have one of them."

The Warmaster gritted his teeth as he stood by Kralik, glaring at him again, "Yes."

"As I understand it, you want to surrender and are curious about our demands,” the voice replied, which was undeniably Han Solo.

"Yes." the Warmaster grunted, glaring at Kralik. "What are they?"

Before Han could reply, Jacen cut through the frequency, "Leave. Leave our galaxy. Remove your people and just leave. And never return, unless you want a repeat of today's battle."

The Warmaster glared again at Kralik. He was disgraced by his commander, who would no doubt be honored for saving the remainder of the Warmasters' fleet, while the Warmaster himself would be removed from his position and sent into exile. "Granted. We will leave in peace."

~~

"I don't trust you to leave in peace," Jacen added, looking at Tahiri again, motioning for her to trace the link to its source. Once she was done, she signaled him and Jacen continued, "I want five x-wings to escort your ships out of Republic space."

"Granted," he replied, "And the prototype?"

Tahiri was silent, looking nervously at Jacen. "The prototype is now the property of the 3rd New Republic. It has become clear to me that if you had this ship in your possession, you could plan another attack. I can't allow that." When he received no reply, he shut off the COM.

Jacen gasped, falling back on his chair as Tahiri removed the tyzowyrm and rushed to his side. 

Tahiri pulled him up, wrapping her arms around him, laughing and crying, "You did it, Jacen! You saved us, saved everyone!"

He chuckled and then frowned slightly, "I have, but am I saved?"

Tahiri frowned, remembering the prophecy and suddenly felt very sick.

~~

Tahiri shut the door behind her and then rested her head on it, then stood back and screamed. After she and Jacen celebrated he reminded her of the prophecy and quietly left the bridge, running through the ships' halls crying.

Now, she stood alone in the bay, staring at the vastness of space as the prototype, newly christened ' _Chameleon_ ' flew through hyperspace. Added to the cloaking device, ' _Chameleon_ ' also had an autopilot, which was perfect since Tahiri really didn't feel like flying home.

During the battle, she hadn't even thought about the prophecy. Now that they won, their victory was short-lived, revisiting their dark future together. It just wasn't fair! She loved Jacen and was more than willing to spend the rest of her life with him. But no, that's not what the Force wants, she thought.

Jacen breathed, knocking the door behind her. Tahiri turned slightly, but didn't look at him. He hesitated at first and then stepped forward, standing close to her but not too close. "I'm sorry, baby."

Tahiri glared at him, her eyes swollen from crying, "Let's run away together," Jacen was about to object, but didn't. "We don't have to live this life...we won't have to worry about anything or anyone destroying us...." she cried, feeling the tears again, "Just hold me."

Jacen held her as she cried. He patted her hair and kissed her cheek, smiling, "I promise I won't go any---." he paused, falling to the floor and shaking violently. 

Tahiri's eyes widened, kneeling beside him. She felt his forehead and then his pulse. His hands were clammy, and he had a high fever...and in the back of Tahiri's mind she knew why. His body was dying.

Tahiri reached over and grabbed Jacen’s left arm and swung it around her shoulder, helping him up and rushing him out of the bay. On the way to the medical bay, she alerted the _Millennium Falcon_ that there was a medical problem and that she needed assistance. Tahiri gasped, resting Jacen’s limp body on the medical bed and then ran over and slapped a pad on the door, and a holographic doctor appeared. He was Vong in origin, but Tahiri didn’t care. As long as he was a doctor and that he could help Jacen. That’s all that mattered.

“Please state the medical emergency,” he said in basic.

Tahiri glared at him and then gestured to Jacen, “He’s dying! Help him!”

The doctor rushed over to Jacen’s side. He felt Jacen’s forehead as Tahiri had then told her to grab some supplies for the medical closet. Tahiri ran over to the closet, basically tearing it apart, throwing things everywhere but stopped when she found what he needed and rushed back over. The Vong doctor looked at her and then grabbed the tool and injected something into his neck. When he didn’t respond, the doctor performed CPR. Tahiri stood there, watching in horror, oblivious to the fourth presence in the room.

_Anakin Solo watched as Tahiri bent over Jacen's body, almost trying to protect him from death, while the Vong doctor tried to revive his older brother. He glanced between Jacen and Tahiri, was it really fair to take his brother away from her? He loved Tahiri too, still did, but was it right to take Jacen away from her? Ultimately, Anakin decided no. It wouldn't be fair to either of them, as well as their parents._

_He waved his hand over Jacen's chest._

The doctor continued CPR for a little while longer and then gave up, saying to Tahiri it was useless. Tahiri screamed, covering her entire body over his. The doctor looked down, frowning. He said he was sorry and that he wished he could do more, but Tahiri didn't hear any of his words. She didn't even have to tell him to leave. He turned and deactivated his program.

Tahiri wanted so badly to scream and yell at Jacen for leaving her, but she was too distraught. 

Instead, she propped herself up onto the bed and held him. She raked her hands through his hair, whispering to him, even though he really couldn't hear her. Anakin frowned and then turned to leave, but froze turning back to Tahiri. Instinctively, he walked over, bent over and kissed her cheek.

Tahiri didn't even feel he was in the room, but looked up when he vanished. She figured it was just her imagination and then rested her head on the crook of Jacen's neck, crying.

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone starts panicking, just remember, there are two sequels to this story. Jacen has plot armor. He'll be fine!


	15. Chapter 15

Leia Solo sat quietly in the cockpit of the  _ Falcon _ , oblivious to her husband’s boosting how proud he was of Jacen. She smiled faintly at him, but said nothing. Finally, Han stopped talking and asked her what was wrong. Leia stared back at him. Han frowned, not wanting to believe the prophecy had come true.

"Ah, come here." he whispered as Leia cried openly, "It'll be all right. We beat the Vong. That's something to celebrate, right?" But Leia didn't reply. Han frowned, hugging his wife. How she could lose two of her sons, and her oldest son for the second time...just didn't seem right.

  
_ Dad? Mom? _

Han froze, looking at Leia and then shrugged. He wasn't used to ghosts visiting him, even though it was a typical Jedi thing. What bothered him more was wandering which son was calling him. _ ‘It's me, dad. Anakin.’ _

Leia cried some more, hiding her face in her hands as Anakin's ghost appeared. Han gasped, smiling partly, "Well son, it's good to see you but your timing is a little off. Your brother, he's dead...again."

Anakin smiled,  _ ‘No, he's not. Jacen's not dead and... I'm coming home.’ Leia stopped crying and faced her son. ‘I'm coming home, mom.’ _

"The prophecy." she mused.

_ ‘I have to go now but I promise, everything will be alright. And we'll be a family again.’ Anakin ventured and then disappeared. _

~~

After hours of crying, Tahiri rested in Jacen's arms. She couldn't believe after all they had done, driving out the Vong from their space and liberating millions, this was how she was rewarded. She gazed at Jacen's face, feeling the urge to cry again but fought back the impulse. So much she hoped that he was just napping and that he would wake up on his own. 

"How could you leave me like this, Jacen? I want to be angry with you, but I love you too much," she paused, "For the first time in my life, I felt so alive. After Anakin died, I wanted to shut myself out from the rest of the universe...I wasn't even given the chance to grieve."

She sobbed briefly and then laughed, "You remember the pledge? We pledged that we would be together forever. It turns out forever doesn't mean anything, and that the Force really doesn't want us together at all. The Force would rather have me alone with a second broken heart," 

Tahiri huffed, "I love you, Jacen Solo. Anakin was my first boyfriend, but you were my true love. My only love. I want you to wake up and tell me you love me, too." She bent down and kissed his palm, "I want you to wake up. I want you here with me, always."

Tahiri hugged his body, wrapping her arms around him as she once again rested her head on his shoulder. She snuggled against him and smiled, feeling his arm around her. 

"I love you too, baby." 

Tahiri bolted up, staring down at Jacen. He moved uneasily, bound to sit up but Tahiri prompted him not too. He frowned, looking around at his surroundings, "Where am I?"

She laughed, "On the  _ Chameleon _ , the prototype Vong ship. We're on our way back to Borealis." Tahiri frowned, hitting his arm, "Don't you ever do that to me again, Jacen Solo! You scared me."

"I'm sorry." he mused, looking at his hands, "I'm not exactly sure what happened. I was dead. I remember seeing a bright light and some old Jedi, Master Yoda and my great grandfather and then, I don't know...something happened and I was pulled out of that."

Tahiri smiled, kissing his cheek, "You're here, alive, that's all that matters." She paused again, 

"Who pulled you out?"

"I did," a voice replied as Tahiri and Jacen turned around, staring at Jacen's now alive little brother and Tahiri's one time love.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you everyone for reading! I will starting the sequel next week!


End file.
